Marble Hill neighbors say they warned for months about ICE agents at a mall parking lot
Since spring, residents and elected officials say, they had warned that immigration agents were working out of the parking lot by the neighborhood's Target. Then came Thursday's shooting.
Marble Hill residents and their elected officials say they spent months warning that immigration agents were using a parking lot at the neighborhood’s shopping center as a base for operations. On Thursday afternoon, two blocks from that lot, ICE agents opened fire during an attempted arrest and wounded a 28-year-old man.
Oscar Belgal had his 5-year-old son in the car with him when the bullet hit him in the neck near Marble Hill Avenue and West 225th Street. Belgal is originally from the Dominican Republic. After treatment at Allen Hospital, he was moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center. Our earlier story covers the arrest attempt and shooting.
Why Marble Hill residents feared ICE activity at the lot
Council Member Pierina Sanchez, a Democrat, said the shooting bore out what the community had feared. Agents were around so constantly, she said, that it was “a matter of time before something happened around here.” Sanchez said neighbors spotted ICE at the lot and on surrounding blocks almost every day. Marble Hill is officially part of Manhattan, though it sits on the Bronx side of the river.
Last week, Sanchez joined eight other lawmakers in signing a letter that asked the property owner to bar ICE from the lot. Kingsbridge Associates, an affiliate of Washington Square Partners, owns and runs The Shops at Marble Hill. Local activists have focused on the center’s Target store, photographing unmarked vehicles in its lot that they say were used in immigration operations.
Letters to Target and the property owner
The pressure began well before the lawmakers’ letter. As early as April, residents of the Bronx, Manhattan and Westchester wrote to Target chief executive Michael Fiddelke. They asked for signs barring immigration agents from the lot unless they had a signed judicial warrant, and for training so staff would know what to do if agents entered illegally. Neighborhood activists and elected officials say the appeals made no difference and agents kept using the two-story lot above the Harlem River.
Kingsbridge has no formal arrangement with ICE, according to two people at the property on Friday who said they worked on its management team. Paul Travis, president of Washington Square Partners and managing partner of Kingsbridge, did not immediately answer an emailed request for comment. Target spokesperson Lauren Frank has said the retailer has “no agreement in place with ICE or any other immigration enforcement agencies.” ICE did not answer questions right away about how its agents use the lot.
On Friday afternoon, at least a dozen staffers from the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs walked the neighborhood, hanging “know your rights” posters on utility poles and talking with passersby.
Quick answers
Where was the man shot by ICE agents in Marble Hill?
Near Marble Hill Avenue and West 225th Street, two blocks from the shopping center lot that residents had warned about.
Does Target have an agreement with ICE in Marble Hill?
A Target spokesperson has said the retailer has no agreement with ICE or other immigration enforcement agencies. Two people who said they were on the property management team said Kingsbridge Associates has no formal arrangement with ICE either.
