Posts
NYC Local News: NYPD-Anti-ICE Activists Clash During 'Spontaneous' Protest
NYPD Arrest More Than a Dozen Protesting Homeland Security Agents in Tense Confrontation
Dozens of masked federal agents were staging inside a parking lot when a spontaneous group of protesters got word of their presence. The NYPD helped clear a path for the federal agents to leave the area.
This article originally appeared in The City.
By Gwynne Hogan, Alex Krales
and Katie Honan
Manhattan Voice
November 30, 2025
It’s unclear exactly what the federal agents had planned for Saturday, and a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from THE CITY. But the agents began staging around 11 a.m inside the federally owned parking facility at Howard and Center streets, near the spot on Canal Street where federal agents using military gear had carried out a wave of arrests of immigrant street vendors last month.
Hellgate reported ICE had planned another large-scale immigration raid for Saturday afternoon that got hastily called off as protesters and vendors appeared to have heard of it.
Word quickly spread among activists and a growing crowd formed outside the garage chanting “ICE out of New York,” as some demonstrators attempted to block the street and garage exits with traffic cones and overturned trash cans, while masked agents looked on from above.
NYPD officers arrived on the scene and helped the agents shove protesters out of the way, erecting metal barricades around the parking garage, and arresting several demonstrators. After a standoff that lasted roughly two hours the officers had managed to clear way for around two dozen federal vehicles to exit the parking garage and leave the area.
“It’s really despicable, it seems like the NYPD — especially the [Strategic Response Group, the NYPD’s counter-terrorism unit] — is working to clear the way for ICE agents to go out in our city to do arrests,” said local City Councilmember Christopher Marte, who rushed to the street after hearing about the standoff.
A spokesperson for the NYPD said officers arrived shortly before noon after getting a 911 call for a “disorderly group.”
“Upon arrival, officers observed multiple individuals who were blocking the street and exits at different locations. The individuals were also observed throwing debris,” the spokesperson said. “They were instructed multiple times to disperse, and they did not comply. As a result, multiple individuals were taken into custody.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams didn’t respond to a request for comment from THE CITY.
Monica Klein, a spokesperson for Zohran Mamdani, said in a statement that “the Mayor-elect has made it clear — including to the President — that these raids are cruel and inhumane, and fail to advance genuine public safety.”
“The Mayor-elect remains steadfast in his commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of every single New Yorker, upholding our sanctuary laws, and deescalation rather than use of unnecessary force,” she said.
As the stream of federal vans and cars attempted to leave the area, smaller groups of protesters left a path of overturned trash cans and debris along Canal Street attempting to slow them down. Dozens of NYPD officers pursued the protesters, unleashing clouds of pepper spray and making several more arrests along Canal Street.
“You understand this is not your battle,” said Kaleed Ravis, 52, pleading with NYPD officers to be gentle with one protester who had his arm twisted behind his back. Ravis, a New Jersey resident, was out shopping when he heard the commotion and joined the protesters.
The throngs of federal agents, NYPD officers and protesters cause chaos along Canal Street for several hours on “Small Business Saturday,” a huge day for tourists and holiday shoppers.
“We're really nosy, it's the Scottish in us,” said one Scottish tourist who had stopped to observe, declining to give her name.
Nineteen-year-old Ali Boussi had come to Canal Street to “get some fake Gucci” while visiting his dad from Detroit, though he hadn’t been able to find any for sale that day, as street vendors — who had been out selling on Canal on Friday — had seemed to have cleared out for the day.
“Fuck ICE, why are they doing this? We’re all one kind,” he said. “It hurts me inside. We're all people.”
Dozens of federal agents descended on Canal Street in October targeting street vendors, arresting nine West African immigrants, the largest military-style immigration raids in New York City. Since then, ICE agents have randomly detained undocumented New Yorkers on the street, targeting predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods which activists and lawyers have called profiling.
There have been other violent raids, including one earlier this month, when agents burst into a woman’s apartment in East Elmhurst before dawn looking for a relative that no longer lived there.
The agents pointed a gun at a 33-year-old mother and her four children, dragging her by her hair and pointing an assault rifle at her 13-year-old daughter.
“Put your fucking hands up, stupid,” one agent was heard yelling in a brief video of the raid.
Earlier this month border czar Tom Homan vowed to increase immigration raids and has said he plans to visit New York City in the coming weeks.
Comments
Post a Comment