Elected Officials Urge Immediate Eviction of Federal Immigration Vehicles from Pier 40
In the wake of a recent announcement that the Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) will not renew its multi-year contract with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to provide parking services at Pier 40 (Houston Street) when that agreement expires in June, a coalition of local elected officials led by City Council member Christopher Marte is urging the organization to find a way to evict the controversial agency even sooner.
In a story first reported by the online news organization HellGateNYC, ICE has for decades utilized Pier 40 to store unmarked white vans used in its enforcement operations, such as recent sweeps through Chinatown. The current five-year contract for this service, which calls for “secure” vehicle storage in spaces cordoned off from public parking areas, is valued at $797,358, of which HRPT was paid $169,035 in 2025.
After HellGateNYC published this story last week, HRPT announced that it would not renew its contract with the federal government. Shal Ramaswamy, a spokesman for the Trust, said, “at its creation, HRPT inherited a 2,000-space public parking garage. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been contracting for a small number of parking spaces since the early 2000s [which offered proximity to] the nearby federal building. The Trust has no engagement related to enforcement. The Trust is currently in the last year of a five-year contract that commenced during the previous federal administration and does not intend to renew or enter into a new contract.”
Following HRPT’s announcement, elected officials representing Lower Manhattan – including U.S. Congressman Dan Goldman, State Senator Brian Kavanagh, State Assembly member Deborah Glick, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and City Council member Erik Botcher – signed onto a letter drafted by Mr. Marte and addressed to HRPT president Noreen Doyle. This letter urged the Trust, “to make every effort to terminate this contract immediately. Even with an expiration date in place, every day matters when considering the impact this relationship has on New Yorkers and on immigrant communities across the City.”
The coalition of officials noted, “ICE’s enforcement activities have increasingly caused fear and distress in neighborhoods throughout New York City,” adding, “recent incidents elsewhere in the country, including the recent fatal shooting in Minneapolis during a federal enforcement operation, have further heightened public concern about ICE’s tactics and the risks associated with them.”
“It is also disappointing that this issue has persisted for so long,” the elected officials continued. “ICE’s use of Pier 40 dates back many years, and concerns about the agency’s conduct were already well known prior to the most recent renewal of the contract, in 2021. In light of this history, we would have expected that the Trust would move sooner to disentangle itself from this relationship.”
Ms. Ramaswamy replied to the letter by saying, “the Trust takes all requests from our elected officials seriously, and we are reviewing the request accordingly, including with assistance from counsel. Hudson River Park is a place for everyone – a space that the Trust strives to make feel welcoming, safe, and accessible for all. The Trust remains committed to that principle and our community.”
A spokesman for ICE’s New York field office responded, “this is nothing more than a tired tactic in a futile effort to place politics over public safety. While New York’s sanctuary politicians continue to prioritize criminal illegal aliens over the people of New York, the Trump Administration will always stand up for law and order and American citizens everywhere. While they prioritize criminal illegal aliens, ICE will continue to stand up for the people of New York.”
The ICE spokesman continued, telling the Broadsheet, “this rhetoric is responsible for the more than 1300 percent increase in assaults and 8,000 percent increase in violent threats against ICE officers. Thanks to ICE, the public, business owners, and patrons no longer have to worry about criminal aliens victimizing them.”