NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: How to Confront ICE Officers, and the Perfect Film to Watch this Thanksgiving

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

New Yorkers across the boroughs are preparing for an expected crackdown by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city. Plus,  the Criterion Channel is streaming a collection of family reunion movies this month including the indie classic “Pieces of April.”

How to Confront Ice Officers. And the indie film, Pieces of April, is said to be the perfect movie to watch this Thanksgiving. From WMYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jene Pierre. More than 150 staff members from the Adams administration are expected to lose their jobs when Mayor Alexeran Mamdani takes office in January. A spokesperson for Mundani confirmed 179 staffers will be terminated, but said the move is standard procedure for most incoming mayors. The layoffs are expected to impact city hall staff, not those employed at city agencies. The spokesperson says Mamdani's transition team is working to build a city hall team that can deliver effectively on the incoming mayor's agenda.

A spokesperson from Mayor Eric Adams says, long-time civil servants should not be the victims of political gambling. and call the decision a massive loss for the city. New Yorkers across the boroughs are preparing for an unexpected crackdown by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city. President Donald Trump and Mayor-elect Mamdani had a surprisingly friendly meeting this past Friday. But just days before, officials in the Trump administration renewed their promises to, quote, flood the zone with ICE officers in New York City. Here's Trump's border czar Tom Holman on Fox News last week.

So we're going to be coming to New York City. We're already there now. I mean, teams are there now. But we will increase the enforcement president in New York City, again, because they're a sanctuary city. And we know we have an issue with the Republic State to trust in the street every day. WMYC's immigration reporter Aria Sundaram says that community organizers are spreading the word about people's rights when they're confronted by ICE officers. Aria talked with some of these advocates and says a few things are happening to prepare. First, community organizers are hosting mass trainings at centers across the city about what to do if you see ice. I actually recently attended one of these trainings.

It was called a deportation defense training in the Washington Heights area. And it was organized by a man who lives in the neighborhood. The trainers were two people from a mutual aid and advocacy network. And the trainers laid it out what they called the five Ds of deportation defense. The five Ds of deportation defense are document, disseminate, direct, Delay and disrupt. Aria says the training teaches observers to document what they're seeing by taking photos or videos and then disseminate that information.

So send it to other people, usually to what's called, quote, rapid response groups run by mutual aid and community organizers that generally operate over signal. Those groups will then dispatch allies to help respond to whatever's happening. After that, the trainers instruct people to intervene and delay the operation. as much as possible, to buy time for other people to show up. And finally, disrupt, which trainers say is the main goal, to try to stop ICE from arresting people. What that looks like they said depends on your comfort level,

but they said it could involve putting your body on the line. Aside from the training, Aria says, Volunteers are going out to people's homes and businesses with informational pamphlets and flyers to educate people about what to do if and when ice shows up. Aria followed canvassers working to educate businesses in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She met 71-year-old retiree, Phyllis Arnold, at a local bagel shop. My name's Phyllis. I live in the neighborhoods, and we're here talking with businesses about how to stay safe from ICE. Once the manager came out from behind the counter, she started explaining that one of the most important things that business could do was to clearly mark private, employee-only spaces.

When ice comes in, they can come in like any other member of the public, you know, in order of bagel and cream cheese. She held up a sign that said employees only. that the canvassers and other organizers were handing out to businesses. In order for ICE to get through this, at least legally, they have to have a warrant. You know, generally lawyers say that in order for ICE officers to enter private spaces, like your home or certain parts of a business, they generally need a judicial warrant or an occupant's permission. So often ICE officers will show what's called an administrative warrant, which is importantly very different than a judicial one.

and it has less legal authority and is usually signed by an ICE officer. So Phyllis then explained the difference between a judicial and administrative warrant, and the manager was really appreciative of her stopping by. He even offered to give her a coffee or a bagel before she left. That's WMYC's ARIA Sundaram. An indie film from the early 2000s is the perfect movie to watch this Thanksgiving. We'll share why after the break. The Criterion Channel is streaming a collection of family reunion movies this month,

including a low-budget indie classic from 2003 called Pieces of April. The movie takes place on Thanksgiving Day. On the Lower East Side, WMYC's Ryan Kylath has more. As a movie guy, I'm a little ashamed to say I'd never seen pieces of April. I'm loathe to give too much of the plot away. You'll enjoy it more if you go in cold. But let me just say, this is now the movie I will watch every Thanksgiving. And I'm not alone there.

I do rewatch it every year. Thanksgiving's my favorite holiday and this may be my favorite project I've been a part of. Peter Hedges, dad of the actor Lucas Hedges, by the way, wrote and directed pieces of April. He says it's the only one of his works he revisits every year. We made the film kind of against all odds in a very scrappy way

made with a lot of love. Hedges was a theater guy, still is, who moved to New York in the 80s to direct plays. And he met a woman on the subway one day who told him how her first Thanksgiving in town, the oven went out. So she had to traips around

the building, borrowing kitchens to cook in. When I met and I heard that. I went, that is a great idea. And I had that idea, and I made notes about that idea for years, and then forgot about it. Hedges went on to great success beyond New York City Theater. He wrote, What's Eating Gilbert Great? And the screenplay for About a Boy, which got an Oscar nod. Career doors were opening. But meanwhile, life happened. His mother was diagnosed with cancer, and Hedges dropped things to help her. but one day she said Peter what are you making what are you doing stop trying to find more doctors

I said well mom I don't feel like making anything there's no point making anything and she said I don't know it's the only point please make something so he went digging through his notes and found this file about a girl making a turkey and about four pages into my notes I said well why is she making the turkey

why is it important on this Thanksgiving and my note said because her mother has cancer and I just gasped and I called her up and he said Mommy and I didn't believe this and she said I'm sorry

and she said oh Peter this is one you're supposed to make this story might give you some clues about the plot of the movie Hedges got to work and the script was so powerful that stars lined up for parts. Katie Holmes signed on at the height of her Dawson's Creek fame. But the financing

fell through. The project languished until Hedges said screw it and made the movie for $300,000. That's pocket change in Hollywood. As a result, pieces of April kind of looks like a home video, if home videos had amazing scripts and major actors. I kind of like the home movie vibe of the film. It feels very intimate, like your peer in on life. Sean Hayes called in from the set of Will & Grace asking for a part. Derek Luke, who played Antoine Fisher, Oliver Platt, Isaiah Whitlock. Patricia Clarkson got an Oscar nomination for this tiny micro-budget camcorder movie.

And they all worked for nothing, $200 a day, including the film's biggest star. Here's Katie Holmes on WNYC in 2003. The script, we all were very moved by it. I think I read it three times in a row because I liked it so much. And the chance to do something that means something to you is it doesn't come along that often. So it's not really about the paycheck in situations like that. The way we were able to make it, it was all just meant to be. And it's just a reminder to me that you don't need all the bells and whistles.

What you need is a few people who believe in it as much as you do or maybe more. And then if you're lucky, it finds us. a way to stick around. Pieces of April is the first movie Hedges ever directed, and it has stuck around, developed a cult following over the years. But the single most important member of the audience

didn't get to see it. My mom never saw the film. I think she would have loved it. And so my eulogy from my mom, this piece is rape. Criterion is screaming the movie this month, and I can't recommend enough to watch it with your

family over Thanksgiving. That's WMYC's Ryan Kylos. Before we go, a look at your forecast for the holiday weekend. Get ready for some blustery conditions over the next few days, including Thanksgiving Day and the busy travel period. The National Weather Service says Gus in the region could get up to 35 miles per hour Thursday as a cold front moves in. Temperatures plus wind chills will be in the mid-30s.

Those wind gusts could get up to 45 miles per hour in parts of the area on Friday, with wind chills in the 30s and even the 20s overnight. The weekend should warm up, though, with Sunday expected to get back into the 50s. Dress appropriately as temps fluctuate over the next few days. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow. Thank you.