NYC Mayor Mamdani says controversial snowball fight "got out of hand"
The NYPD is continuing its search for the people accused of assaulting officers with snowballs.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani declined Wednesday to say whether he agreed with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch on whether or not people who threw them at the NYPD in Washington Square Park Monday should face charges.
The controversy now has a name: snowball-gate.
"A one-way attack on our police officers"
At a news conference Wednesday, multiple reporters pelted Mamdani with questions about the incident, and whether his stance that those involved should not be charged has changed.
Tisch said what took place with the officers was "criminal," and the NYPD has released the images of four people it is looking for in the incident, saying that two officers took themselves to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
"I've said that what I saw was a snowball fight, it should be treated accordingly," Mamdani said Wednesday. "It was one that got out of hand, but that's what it was."
Patrick Hendry, the head of the PBA, said Mamdani is wrong.
"I don't what video, again, he's watching. He needs to watch the video and see how this was a one-way attack on our police officers," Hendry said.
Mamdani again reiterated that NYPD officers, and all city workers, deserve to be treated with respect.
"This is certainly a gulf between the two of them"
Law enforcement expert Richard Esposito said snowball-gate has come between the mayor and his police commissioner.
"This is certainly a gulf between the two of them. Now, I was talking to a detective last night, and I said, what would you have done? He said, 'Well, what would I have done? The kid would have put his hand out. I would have a cuff on his. If I'm going to get hit with a snowball, one of you is coming with me,'" Esposito said. "Is it as criminal as [Tisch] made it? She probably overstated. But you know what? It's also saying, you're my department, I support you."
Emergency snow shoveling program gets national attention
Separately, reporters also asked Mamdani about President Trump's comments about emergency snow shovelers at the State of the Union. Mr. Trump praised Mamdani as a "nice guy," but added "if you apply for that job you need to show two original forms of ID and a social security card."
"Yet they don't want identification for the greatest privilege in America," Mr. Trump added, referring to voting.
"I can tell you I didn't expect this much attention nationwide on our emergency snow shoveler program," Mamdani said. He added that more than 1,400 New Yorkers signed up.
Conversations with President Trump are private, Mamdani says
Mamdani declined to discuss how often he's in touch with the president.
"I'll keep the conversations that I have with the president private," Mamdani said. "Whenever they do happen, they always focus on how to better our city."
