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Dear New Yorkers,

Federal immigration officials launched their first high-profile raids in New York City under President Donald Trump, trumpeting their actions in a 7 a.m. video in which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who personally oversaw the enforcement actions, proclaimed that agents were “getting the dirtbags off the streets in New York City this morning.”

A motorcade of heavily militarized federal agents converged at the parking lot of the Bronx Terminal Market in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday morning, before heading to at least three different locations in The Bronx and Upper Manhattan.

Tweets from several official government accounts on social media showed at least four people being taken into custody this morning. By midafternoon, details had emerged about only one of the arrests: the Trump-boosting New York Post published an exclusive report about the arrest of 25-year-old Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, an alleged leader of the Tren de Aragua gang that Trump just designated as a “terrorist organization.”

Mayor Eric Adams put out a statement confirming that the city was coordinating with Homeland Security “on a federal criminal investigation involving a suspect hiding in New York City.”

But he did not comment on the raids that took place at other locations — or the immigrants who have been picked up in the last few days at routine ICE check-ins, separate from these highly publicized raids.

Read more here about the Tuesday morning ICE action in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Weather 🌧️

It’s a little warmer today, with a high near 46 and a chance of showers in the afternoon.

MTA 🚇

In Manhattan, all L trains at 3 Ave and 1 Ave board from the 8 Ave-bound platform. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.

Alternate side parking 🚙

It’s suspended today, Jan. 29, for Lunar New Year. 🐍🧧

By the way…

Here’s a guide to the policies that together define New York as a “sanctuary city” — and what that could mean during a potential mass deportation effort.

Our Other Top Stories

An order from President Donald Trump’s budget office to freeze grant funding to states has sown confusion and spurred pushback in New York. New York State relies on about $93 billion in federal aid, with the biggest portion for Medicaid, which provides health coverage for seven million people in the state. Programs that could be affected include transit agencies and public universities. On Tuesday night, a federal judge paused the freeze to allow pending litigation to play out. You can only vote in this summer’s NYC primaries if you’re registered with a party — and the deadline is coming up fast. Since the city has closed primaries, only members of the candidates’ political party can vote for which candidate should become the nominee. If you’re registered without a party, or with the Working Families or Conservative parties, you won’t be able to vote in the primaries. Switch your party to Democrat or Republican by Feb. 14 in order to vote!  Business improvement districts around the city are flipping their lids over a proposed rule they say would jeopardize their clean-up work on the city’s streets — and possibly even force some to stop their garbage pickup altogether. The groups that clean up the city’s commercial corridors say they already do the Department of Sanitation’s job for them and shouldn’t be punished with onerous new garbage-disposal mandates.

Reporter’s Notebook

NYPD Bigs Misfired Social Media, Inspector General Finds

City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber took aim yesterday at vitriolic online rants by top NYPD brass that erupted for months last year. A report by the NYPD Inspector General, part of DOI, cited among others a Feb. 27 post by John Chell, now the department's top uniformed cop, attacking a judge he believed had released a man accused of assault who had multiple prior convictions. Chell claimed the judge sent "a predator back into the community who may be on your next train." The IG found Chell had accused the judge "of failing to do her job when in fact he simply disagreed with a decision she made." The report argued that Chell had suggested that the judge "would be responsible for future acts of violence," an assertion the IG declared to be "an inflammatory and speculative allegation.” The kicker: Chell named the wrong judge.

The IG called this a potential violation of city conflicts of interest laws and possibly the federal Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of government resources for political purposes. Responded the NYPD: "We appreciate DOI’s comprehensive report. As the report notes, the NYPD has already made significant changes to its social media practices. We look forward to reviewing the report and recommendations."

— Greg B. Smith

Things To Do

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

Wednesday, Jan. 29: It’s Lunar New Year! Celebrate in Chinatown with performances and firecrackers. Sara D. Roosevelt Park, 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29: Learn swing dancing at the Bryant Park Lodge. 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31: Celebrate Lunar New Year with a Mahjong tournament at the Ace Hotel in Brooklyn. 7 p.m.

THE KICKER: Director Baz Luhrmann has opened a new bar in the East Village — and don’t worry, Madonna approves.

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

Love,

THE CITY

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