ICE task force arrest at Manhattan courthouse fuels dispute over NYC sanctuary laws

Today's newsletter curated by James Ramsay

Weather: ☁️ Cloudy and breezy, highs in the mid 30s.

It's Thursday in New York City, where Gerardo Miguel Mora was arrested late last month for allegedly stealing about $130 worth of merchandise from the H&M in Herald Square.

After his arraignment in a Manhattan courthouse, the judge granted Mora supervised release — his case didn't meet the state’s criteria to be held in jail on bail. 

But before he could leave the building, U.S. marshals working on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement task force arrested him. Mora, a Mexican immigrant who pleaded guilty in 2011 to charges of second-degree burglary as a sexually motivated felony, was deported in 2014 and returned sometime after. Now, he's currently being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Here's what Mora's case reveals about the tension between federal immigration enforcement and local New York City laws meant to protect immigrants.

And here's what else is happening:

• Just how gross are those piles of sidewalk snow? Gothamist recently sent samples to a lab to test for bacteria and 25 different metals, and discovered that the snow isn't as toxic as it might look, but you still shouldn't eat it.
• New York City’s outdoor death toll from the recent stretch of extreme cold has risen to 19 after a man was found unresponsive on the street under the Manhattan Bridge Tuesday night, according to City Hall.
  • At least five of the individuals who died from the cold had housing, underscoring that even people in stable living situations can be vulnerable to extreme weather.
• Nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore voted yesterday to ratify new three-year contracts and end their monthlong strike, while nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian rejected a deal, according to the nurses' union.
• Mayor Zohran Mamdani told lawmakers in Albany that the city is now facing a smaller fiscal hole than initially expected — $7 billion rather than $12 billion — but he still wants to raise income taxes on the city’s wealthy residents.
• A Georgia-based arms company will pay $1.75 million to victims' families and injured individuals in the 2022 racist mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket — and stop selling its detachable magazine lock used in the killing — under a settlement reached with New York's attorney general.
• The NYPD said a 16-year-old boy was killed and two other teenagers were wounded in a shooting in Kingsbridge in the Bronx yesterday afternoon.

• Kaif Gilani, a "Hot Girls for Zohran" cofounder who went on to work for Brad Lander's congressional campaign, has been fired by Lander after revelations that his pseudonymous social media accounts reposted conspiracy theories about Israel and statements sympathetic to Hamas.
• Some Bergdorf Goodman employees said their paychecks this year have been inexplicably lighter — with deductions up to 75% — in the face of parent company Saks Global's bankruptcy proceedings. 
• If you're interested in buying the Waldorf Astoria, the hotel's Chinese government-backed owners are selling.
• Here's a thorough "Real Housewives of New York" drama update.
• Keeping a little headlamp in your nightstand drawer seems smart.
• Frost the tips, Timmy.
• They pull you back in.