NYC NOW - Incident Reports Show ICE Enters City Shelters Without Judicial Warrants, and a Miscount of New York City Mayors

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

Federal immigration officers entered private areas of New York City shelters without presenting judicial warrants at least five times this year, according to official incident reports. Plus, an official document from 1674 confirms that Zohran Mamdani should be sworn in as the 112th mayor of New York City, not the 111th.

Incident reports show that ICE entered city shelters without judicial warrants and a miscount of New York City mayors. From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jenae Pierre. A tech industry group says Governor Kathy Hochel should look to California in setting regulations on artificial intelligence companies. The Democratic governor has a bill on her desk right now that would require companies to disclose their safety protocols.

The bill's sponsor. says it provides basic guardrails to protect the public. Julie Samuels is the CEO of the advocacy group Tech, NYC. She says Hockel should change that bill to be more like a new California law that only requires disclosure. Samuel says matching California would give companies certainty. Every major tech company is in New York and California. So all of a sudden now you see responsible blue state governors taking the reins, and that's great. Hogle has until Friday to broker a deal to change the bill or veto it.

Her office says talks are currently underway. A queen's lawmaker wants the city to form a task force to crack down on unsafe party venues. Councilmember Bob Holden says he's received ongoing complaints about loud, overcrowded events in his district, and he wants a coordinated effort to make sure venues are following the rules. This is quite serious. And again, I'm getting a bunch of calls from my kids. constituents who say, I'm moving out. I can't take this anymore. You're not really addressing this. So what can we do? The proposed task force would include the NYPD, fire officials, and

several city and state agencies. His successor, Phil Wong, says he plans to continue Holden's enforcement efforts. City Hall did not respond to a request for comment. immigration officials have entered New York City homeless shelters over 20 times this year, in some cases armed and without judicial warrants. That's according to internal city documents obtained by WNYC. Reporter Arias Sundaram submitted a Freedom of Information request to the City Department of Social Services. It runs a majority of city shelters. Legal experts say several of the incidents raised serious questions about whether shelter staff are following the city's sanctuary laws. According to city data, about 30,000 migrants live in city shelters.

That's over a third of the city shelter population. Aria says in five cases, federal officers were able to enter private areas or get a residence's information without presenting a judicial warrant. Under the city sanctuary laws, city staffers are generally prohibited from allowing federal immigration officers to enter private areas of city property, with a few exceptions. Like if the officers show a judicial warrant or, if there's a dangerous situation. When asked about the city's response to these incidents, Aria was told by a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services that staff never, quote, willfully violated protocol.

She was told that the main issue here was former guidance that the city sent out in January, which instructed staff to allow immigration officers to enter, quote, if at any time you feel reasonably threatened or fear for your safety or the safety of others around you. That guidance, though, was updated earlier this year after public outcry. As far as this report goes, the federal government hasn't commented on it. Aria says immigration advocates are critical of ICE, and most of them are critical of Mayor Adams, too.

But with the new administration taking over City Hall next month, Aria says immigration advocates will be pushing the City Council to pass the NYC Trust Act. Lots of a bill about what allowed individuals to sue for breaches of the city's central laws. It only applies to jail, probation, and law enforcement officers, but some advocates would like it to be more expansive and apply to all city agencies. That's WNYC's ARIASundrum. An official document from 1674 confirms that Zoroamamandhi should be sworn in as the 112th mayor of New York City, not the 111th. More on the miscount after the break. New York City's Municipal Archives in Lower Manhattan contains written records on the Big Apple's history, dating back to the 1600s.

But one book has been missing for years, and it could prove the city has been miscounting nearly all of its mayors. WNYC's Elizabeth Kim decided to track it down. I'm at the Municipal Archives. on Chambers Street. The building has a marble atrium and a soaring glass skylight. But I'm not here to admire the architecture. I'm looking for a very specific piece of New York City history. Oh, hi, Michael. I'm Liz. In the basement, I meet Michael Lorenzini. I started at the Municipal Archives in 1997. He recently contacted me to say he had information about reporting I'd done on Mathias Nichols.

Nichols was the sixth mayor of New York City from 1671 to 1672 during an era when mayors had one-year terms. So here we have October 1672. You can see Captain Matthews Nichols, mayor, and then these are the alderman. So that's October 1672. But there's evidence he served a second non-consecutive term beginning in 1674. That would make Nichols. also the 8th mayor of New York City. But that second term is missing from the city's official record.

If confirmed, that would mean mayors have been misnumbered since the city first started officially counting them more than a century ago. Typically, these little volumes would have covered one year. And this is in Dutch. Lorenzini is thumbing through books written in the 1600s. They're handwritten with ink and quill, and are in surprisingly good condition. So this period is last from, let's see, ends on November 10, 1674.

And that's when the Dutch relinquished, what they were calling New Orange, back to the English, who returned to New York. Back in the 17th century, the mayor presided over trials. So Nichols's second term should be reflected in a bound book called the mayor's court minutes. This is the smoking gun I'm looking for to correct history. But there's a problem. So now the question is, where are the records of Matthews Nichols' second term? Because we've got his first term here.

And it seems like we actually don't have that volume. I try not to look devastated. Lorenzini and his colleagues speculate that the missing minutes might be in Albany or even England. Your story has opened a lot of mysteries that we're going to have to pursue now. So I leave the building empty-handed. But hours after I leave, I get an email from Lorenzini. I go back. And there it is.

Mayor's Court Minutes, November 13, 1674, to September 21, 1675. So if we open this up, we're going to see here on the very first page, it says, at a mayor's court held in New York 13th of November in the 26th year of His Majesty's reign Amano Domeni 1674, Captain Matthews, Nichols, Mayor. I ask him the million-dollar question. Should Zora Mamdani be inaugurated as the 111th or 112th mayor? I would say it's not my...

I don't have the authority to change. that? I actually don't even know who or when they started really numbering the mayors, but I can say out of certainty, he's not 111. And if we're going by the current system, yeah, he should

be 112. The city's Department of Records officially acknowledged the miscount on social media. But what happens next is unclear. The city has never had to deal with a miscount in the modern era. The last time this happened was in the 1930s.

What number will New Yorkers hear when Mom Donnie is sworn in on inauguration day? The mayor-elect hasn't commented. That's WNYC's Elizabeth Kim. If you're thinking about adopting or fostering a pet this holiday season, you may want to do some research. New York state officials say adoption scams are most commonly reported in December and January, and victims can lose out on a lot of months. money. Y'all know pets can be expensive. People have reported never receiving a pet after paying for one online or said they got sick or stolen. Here's a tip to prevent something like this from happening to

you, dear listener. Officials say you should verify sellers, understand your rights, and watch for red flags that things may be too good to be true. Yeah, here's a journalist telling you to do a little fact-checking. You're welcome. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.