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NEW YORK — <\/span>Mayor Zohran Mamdani and top New York Democrats are calling on the owners of private parking lots to block federal immigration officers from using their properties as staging areas, days after immigration officers shot a man<\/a> in the city.<\/p>\n In a Friday letter, Mamdani, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and dozens of state and local lawmakers told lot and garage owners that the city needs their \u201chelp at a critical juncture.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIn solidarity with immigrant New Yorkers and in our shared commitment to the City we love, we ask that you do not rent, lend, or otherwise make your property available to ICE as a staging area for its enforcement operations,\u201d the letter<\/a> reads. \u201cMake it known to ICE that it is not authorized to use your garages and lots.\u201d <\/p>\n The plea came after immigration officers shot 28-year-old Dominican national Oscar Belgal<\/a> during an arrest last week as he rode in a car with his young son. The shooting sparked protests and drew renewed attention to the federal government\u2019s immigration crackdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n The federal officers had been using a nearby private parking lot as a staging area before the shooting, according to Friday’s letter.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security slammed the letter in a statement that read: \u201cMayor Mamdani should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of NYC since he won\u2019t. Luckily, no terminated parking will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make New York safe again.” <\/p>\n Federal officials maintain the immigration officers believed their lives were in danger and opened fire only<\/a> after Belgal smashed his car into two government vehicles and accelerated toward them.<\/p>\n New York City has previously barred outside law enforcement agencies such as DHS from setting up staging areas on city property unless they have a judicial warrant or qualify for certain \u201climited legal exceptions,\u201d according to the letter. \u201cBut these laws govern City property, not the private lots and garages that you operate,\u201d it adds.<\/p>\n Private businesses have at times found themselves in the middle of tense political fights<\/a> over President Donald Trump’s administration’s immigration enforcement push. <\/p>\n In one instance, a Minnesota hotel that refused to let immigration officers stay there in January apologized<\/a> after public criticism from DHS, saying the decision violated its internal policies. In another, protesters occupied the lobby<\/a> of a Manhattan hotel they said was housing some immigration officers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n