Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to ask private New York City garage and parking lot owners to block ICE agents from using their property, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am asking that you do not rent, lend, or otherwise make your property available to ICE as a staging area for its enforcement operations,\u201d Mamdani writes in the letter, a draft of which was obtained by The Post on Thursday. <\/p>\n
\u201cMake it known to ICE that it is not authorized to use your garages and lots.\u201d<\/p>\n
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference at the site of the Bronx ICE shooting. Getty Images<\/p>\n
The draft was being circulated among local lawmakers as City Hall was trying to pool support for his plea and get other pols to sign on. It wasn\u2019t immediately clear when the letter would be sent or how many business owners were on the mailing list.<\/p>\n
The letter was apparently sparked by reports that a Bronx garage serving a Target was used by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents involved in last week\u2019s shooting of illegal immigrant <\/a>Oscar Belgal. ICE had been using that lot for months \u2014 as far back as April \u2014 to stage its immigration operations across the borough, Gothamist reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s letter cited at least three other instances of ICE using private lots to stage its operations across the city.<\/p>\n \u201cEach such use, whether part of a formal or informal arrangement or no arrangement at all, gives ICE a launching point for operations that have terrified and terrorized local communities,\u201d the draft read, adding that such deals risk \u201cplacing your property, your employees, and your customers at the center of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Oscar Belgal being detained by ICE officers after he was shot in the neck while attempting to flee arrest on Oct. 8. via REUTERS<\/p>\n Mamdani explained the ways in which the Big Apple blocks<\/a> ICE from using its property for staging enforcement operations \u2014 in line with the city\u2019s sanctuary policies, which bar cooperation with federal immigration enforcement \u2014 and flat-out asked garage owners to fall in line.<\/p>\n \u201cThese laws govern City property, not the private lots and garages that you operate. That is why we need your help,\u201d the draft reads.<\/p>\n Hizzoner framed the plea as coming from a position of \u201csolidarity with immigrant New Yorkers and our shared commitment to the city we love,\u201d adding that it came at \u201ca critical juncture for our city.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter went even further \u2014 pulling at heartstrings with reminders that \u201cevery day, your garages and lots serve the people who make New York City work,\u201d and telling the owners: \u201cthank you for the essential service that you provide to millions of New Yorkers and visitors each day.\u201d<\/p>\n Protestors clashing with police after Belgal was shot in the neck by ICE officers in the Bronx on Oct. 8. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n The attempt to extend public sanctuary laws to the private sector comes as Mamdani faced mounting pressure<\/a> from his Democratic Socialists of America cronies to take a drastic measure in the wake of ICE\u2019s October 8 shooting of Belgal in Marble Hill.<\/p>\n Belgal, 28, was in federal custody after he was shot while trying to drive away from ICE agents and suffered a wound to the neck. His 5-year-old son was also in the car during the shooting, and made it out unscathed.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s allies, including DSA darling and US House candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, have set their sights on Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch<\/a> in the aftermath, accusing her of violating sanctuary policies that bar the NYPD from working with ICE.<\/p>\n That\u2019s despite Tisch presiding over one of the city\u2019s steepest drops in violent crime, and the NYPD having no involvement in the ICE incident.<\/p>\n