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Dear New Yorkers,

As President Donald Trump dispensed with years of precedent strongly discouraging immigration raids in “sensitive locations” like schools, houses of worship and hospitals, Mayor Eric Adams declined yesterday to explain how his administration will respond to federal agents showing up at city facilities.

But behind the scenes it’s a different story.

Local government agency heads in the last few days have distributed advisories instructing staff to block access to any non-local law enforcement, even if presented with a judicial warrant. The memos instruct city employees instead to contact city lawyers for authorization.

Those agencies include the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which runs city buildings, including courthouses. The Department of Education and Department of Social Services both sent similar notices to staff. All three agencies are deeply involved in providing services to recent immigrants, including at homeless shelters.

In bureaucratic language, the Adams administration’s new memoranda speak to a sudden, lurching shift in immigration enforcement under Trump.

Read more here about what city agencies are doing to block ICE raids.

Weather 🥶

The bitter cold continues: today will be sunny with a high around 20 degrees.

MTA 🚇

In Brooklyn, the Coney Island-bound local N train skips Union Street, 4 Ave-9 Street, Prospect Ave, 25 Street, 45 Street and 53 Street overnight. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.

Alternate side parking 🚙

It’s suspended today, Jan. 22, because of the snow.

By the way…

Feeling nosy? Here’s how to snoop through property records like a reporter.

Our Other Top Stories

What doom loop? New York City’s office buildings are in a remarkable rebound from the pandemic: office leasing in 2024 was the highest in five years. Financial giants signed huge leases in Midtown. Vacancy rates fell sharply, including in the depressed market downtown. And the value of commercial office buildings has not only recovered from the pandemic, the city’s property roll for next year shows an increase of 4%.

Reporter’s Notebook

New York State to Fight Trump Move to Kill Birthright Citizenship

New York Attorney General Letitia James and counterparts from around the country challenged President Donald Trump’s first-day executive order ending birthright citizenship on Tuesday — as Mayor Eric Adams dodged questions on the move.

James and attorneys general from 17 other states and Washington, D.C., as well as the San Francisco city attorney, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking to stop the order signed by Trump hours after he was inaugurated.

“This fundamental right to birthright citizenship, rooted in the 14th Amendment and born from the ashes of slavery, is a cornerstone of our nation’s commitment to justice,” James said in a statement.

A day after attending Trump’s inauguration, Adams was asked at his weekly press briefing about the birthright order and two others but avoided criticizing the president.

“If I do disagree, I will communicate with him directly,” he said of Trump. “I don't want to be part of what feeds the anxiety of going back and forth in this public discourse that we're seeing.”

— Katie Honan

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Thursday, Jan. 23: Attend the opening reception of “Brooklyn Dreamland, Land without Shadows,” an art exhibit depicting the “bygone era of Coney Island.” Arsenal in Central Park, 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25: Customize your tote bag with tie-dye at the Queens Public Library. Call to sign up. 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25: If you want to help prevent flooding in your apartment and your community, hear solutions from policy experts and tradespeople at Flood Solutions Fair. Van Alen Institute, Gowanus, Brooklyn, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

THE KICKER: Writer and cartoonist Jules Feiffer has died at 95. Feiffer’s comic strip in The Village Voice ran for more than 40 years.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Wednesday.

Love,

THE CITY

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