Mamdani Critics Melt Down After Rowdy NYC Snowball Fight | EUROtoday

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared to hope cooler heads would prevail after a Monday snowball melee in Washington Square Park left two law enforcement officials with minor accidents and a division demanding justice.

A mid-blizzard meetup of a number of dozen New Yorkers went from playful to precarious when police arrived to manage the group, solely to be promptly pelted with snowballs and chunks of ice.

According to New York City legislation enforcement’s labor union, the fracas “landed two police officers in the hospital with head and face injuries.”

In the wake of the scuffle, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated authorities had launched an investigation into the “disgraceful” and “criminal” incident.

But the mayor tried to mood Tisch’s pledge throughout a Wednesday press convention, telling reporters he didn’t see habits that match the definition of legal assault within the video of the frosty free-for-all.

“I’ve said time and time again that I, having seen these videos, to me, it was a snowball fight that got out of hand and it should be treated accordingly,” Mamdani maintained.

He didn’t attempt to dismiss the officers’ accidents, nevertheless, repeatedly rebuking the aggressors as he advised New Yorkers, “Officers, like all city workers, have been out in a historic blizzard, keeping New Yorkers safe and cars moving. Treat them with respect. If anyone’s catching a snowball, it’s me.”

Asked if he had plans to ban public gatherings with the identical potential to go south, the mayor mustered up as a lot poise as doable earlier than saying, “I’m not going to be banning snowball fights or organized snowball fights.”

Video from Monday’s meetup exhibits police on the mercy of dozens of jeering, ice-armed civilians, a number of of whom have been subsequently seen getting roughed up by authorities.

Though the town had nothing to do with the social media-organized occasion, Mamdani critics seized on the incident as a possibility to accuse him of failed management.

Eric Adams, the previous mayor and a profession police officer, referred to as the commotion “disgusting behavior” in a Tuesday X submit the place he stated politicians who “bash the police and refuse to have their backs are setting a terrible example.”

Not one to overlook an opportunity to wade into tradition wars, famously winter-averse Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) referred to as the debacle “disgusting” whereas reposting Adams’ message.

“I’m amazed that NYPD officers continue to go to work with a mayor who disrespects them so much,” he wrote of Mamdani, who beforehand supported combatting the town’s over-policing drawback by reallocating funding for legislation enforcement however shifted his stance throughout his 2025 mayoral marketing campaign.

Criticism from the mayor’s political adversaries was bolstered by minor media hysteria over the blizzard brawl, with one pearl-clutching headline from the New York Post studying, “Mamdani refuses to call mob launching snowballs at cops a ‘criminal’ act, says it just ’looks like a snowball fight.”

Another Politico story had a loaded headline that requested, “Is Zohran responsible for this snowball fight?” whereas the Associated Press declared, “Mamdani’s relationship with NYPD gets icy after officers were pelted in a snowball fight.”

On Thursday, a 27-year-old man recognized from footage of the battle was arrested at his dwelling within the Bronx.

Though initially charged with felony assault on a police officer, obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to pursue the assault cost after reviewing out there proof.