Hoylman-Sigal: Hudson River Park Should End Parking Contract with ICE Immediately

Parking just got tougher for ICE agents in New York City.

The Hudson River Park Trust said it won’t renew its parking contract with ICE that allow its vans to be parked in the Pier 40 garage when the current agreement expires at the end of June.

Borough president Brad Hoylman-Sigal said renting the parking spaces to ICE violates New York City’s status as a sanctuary city and has called for the contract to be ended immediately and not wait until June.

Parking contracts between ICE and the Hudson River Park Trust apparently go back decades and never drew much scrutiny. A public uproar erupted in recent days after the web site Hell Gate reported that the not for profit enterprise currenntly has a contract valued at nearly $169,036 to allow vans believed to be used by ICE to park in its public garage on the far west side. After the story broke, the Hudson River Park Trust said the contract was not going to be renewed when it expires at the end of June.

“The Trust is currently in the last year of a five-year parking contract that commenced during the previous federal administration and does not intend to renew the contract,” Shal Ramaswamy, a spokesperson for the Hudson River Park Trust, told Hell Gate. She declined to say how many parking spots ICE was currently using but said the trust was not involved in any enforcement activities. “The contract is confined to the provision of parking spaces, and the Trust has no engagement related to enforcement,” she said. The white vans with tinted windows are reportedly use to transport detained migrants.

Newly elected Manhattan borough president Brad Hoylman-Sigal says ending the contract in June is not soon enough: he wants the parking to end immediately, according to a post on X.

“The city and state who control the Hudson River Park Trust is providing space for ICE dozens of vehicles to park at Pier 40. This is publicly owned space that should be subject to New York City’s sanctuary policies which prevent cooperation with ICE. I understand the contract is set to expire in June, but every day matters when you consider that the city and the state are in effect colluding in family separation policies with the federal government. The contract must end now.”

“The Trust is currently in the last year of a five-year parking contract that commenced during the previous federal administration and does not intend to renew the contract,” Shal Ramaswamy, a spokesperson for the Hudson River Park Trust, told Hell Gate. She declined to say how many parking spots ICE was currently using but said the trust was not involved in any enforcement activities. “The contract is confined to the provision of parking spaces, and the Trust has no engagement related to enforcement,” she said.

Hell Gate first reported on ICE’s contract after it dug into the info after the digital site Sludge published a map that showed ICE contracts across the United States. The map included nearly a dozen firms right right here in Manhattan that had lucrative deals with ICE, although only the Hudson River Park Trust was a public entity.

Hoylman-Sigal called on the Trust to break its contract immediately following the Hell Gate report.

“I understand the contract is set to expire in June, but everyday matters when you consider that the city and the state are in effect colluding in family separation policies with the federal government,” he said on X. “The contract must end now.”

In 2018, Sludge reported that ICE’s contract at the time was worth $426,000 and involved 35 parking spaces for vehicles. A City Council bill at the time would have banned public entities from contracting with ICE, but the legislation never moved forward, according to a report in the not for profit news site THE CITY. The bill in 2022 that would have banned public entities from contracting with ICE stalled in committee. It has been first introduced back in 2018

Anger towards ICE has built in recent weeks, as 3,000 agents were reportedly dispatched to Minneapolis, a city which counts a police force of only 600 officer. Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, sparking tense demonstrations in subsequent days across the city and across the country.

There were several demonstrations in New York City in recent weeks. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference in NYC on Jan. 8 to herald her department’s ongoing immigration operations in New York City.

That drew an angry retort from migrant advocates in the city. ”Secretary Noem lied about events in Minneapolis and she lied about the efficacy of New York’s sanctuary policies,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently said on ABC’s The View he was in favor of abolishing ICE. “I am in support of abolishing ICE, and I’ll tell you why: Because what we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist,” said Mamdani.