A snowball fight in Washington Square Park on 23 February has escalated into a political clash between New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the NYPD. The event, organised by Instagram show Sidetalk, drew hundreds of young people who pelted officers with snowballs after police arrived to disperse the crowd. Two men have been arrested, but the mayor dismissed the incident as 'kids throwing snowballs'.
The NYPD reported multiple officers injured, with two taken to hospital in a stable condition. The Police Benevolent Association called the snowball fight 'unacceptable and outrageous' and demanded arrests. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch labelled the event 'disgraceful' and 'criminal', while Governor Kathy Hochul said throwing anything at an officer is unacceptable.
Mayor Mamdani, a progressive who took office in November, struck a different tone, joking on X: 'If anyone’s catching a snowball, it’s me.' He later told a press conference he would not ban snowball fights. The PBA condemned his response as a 'complete failure of leadership'.
The incident highlights tensions between Mamdani and the NYPD, as he kept Tisch as commissioner despite her conservative record. Mamdani had previously called for defunding the police in 2020 but has since moderated his stance. The two men arrested—Gusmane Coulibaly, 27, and Eric Wilson Jr, 18—face charges including assault, though a violent felony charge against Coulibaly was dropped due to insufficient evidence.
