Protesters converged within minutes, blocking the exit ramp and preventing officers from deploying.
New York Police Department officers made several arrests after ordering demonstrators to clear the street, and the federal team eventually withdrew.
For Mamdani, the video was more than a civics lesson; it was a blueprint for his effort to “Trump-proof” New York, signalling that his administration will rely heavily on local laws that restrict co-operation with Ice.
A broader campaign is being shaped in Albany, where Governor Kathy Hochul has been preparing for months for the possibility of expanded federal immigration operations by United States President Donald Trump.
Hochul has directed her homeland security team to plan for scenarios in which New York could face the same kind of rapid federal surges seen in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon.
Jackie Bray, the state’s homeland security commissioner, said that when she called her counterparts in those cities, she heard recurring accounts of federal deployments arriving without notice, routine channels of communication breaking down and neighbourhoods left uncertain about how to respond.
“We are through the looking glass,” she said.
Bray said officials in other cities described situations that would have seemed unthinkable a year ago, including moments when federal officers acted independently of local law enforcement.
Since October, the Hochul administration has briefed businesses, faith leaders and advocacy groups on how to respond if federal raids expand.
Bray said New Yorkers may document encounters and help neighbours understand their rights but can’t block arrests.
“We have legal ways to protect our neighbours,” she said. “Breaking the law does not ultimately protect anyone.”
New York’s tensions with federal immigration authorities extend beyond the Canal Street incident.
Acting Ice director Todd Lyons sent a letter to state Attorney-General Letitia James in September, urging the state to honour more than 7000 pending federal detainers and criticising local jurisdictions for releasing nearly as many people this year despite federal requests.
The agency cited arrests involving violent and weapons-related offences.
State officials note that many of those cases remain unresolved and that New York law prohibits holding individuals past their release dates for civil immigration enforcement unless a judge signs a warrant.
In his video, Mamdani appeared to anticipate those disputes. He told New Yorkers that Ice sometimes presents administrative paperwork that resembles judicial documents but doesn’t authorise entry.
- With assistance from Laura Nahmias.
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.
