New York City police opened an investigation after officers were pelted with snowballs while responding to what the city described as a large snowball fight at Washington Square Park in Manhattan. The incident occurred on Monday, and a video shared by the incident coverage shows two uniformed officers moving along a park walkway as snowballs fly from multiple directions, hitting the officers and covering them in snow.
The footage also depicts officers becoming visibly frustrated, shoving at least two people to the ground as snowballs continued to fly. In the video, one person runs up behind an officer and mushes snow onto the officer’s head, and one of the officers is seen rubbing an eye near the end.
In a statement Tuesday, the New York Police Department said multiple uniformed officers were struck in the face with snowballs. The department said the officers were “removed by EMS in stable condition” to a nearby hospital, and it did not provide further details about their injuries.
Police commissioner Jessica Tisch characterized the conduct as unacceptable and said the department is investigating. Tisch called the behavior “disgraceful” and “criminal,” and the department released images of two people it is searching for in connection with the incident, asking the public to help identify them.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other local political figures denounced the incident, as some critics of the mayor seized on the episode as an example of declining respect for law enforcement under his leadership. Mamdani, whose campaign included attacks from opponents tied to criticisms he made of the department in 2020, said he had walked back those earlier remarks.
Mamdani wrote on X on Tuesday that, “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.” Later at a news conference, he appeared to downplay whether anyone should face criminal charges when a reporter asked about possible criminal action.
“From the videos that I’ve seen, it looks like a snowball fight,” Mamdani said at the news conference. Patrick Hendry, president of the city’s largest police union, said in a statement that Mamdani’s response was a “complete failure of leadership,” arguing the mayor’s reaction dismissed the injuries and sent “a disgraceful message to every police officer who serves this city.”
Hendry said the incident “was not just a ‘snowball fight.’” He described it as “an assault,” adding that ignoring the officers’ injuries and dismissing the incident should be of concern to police officers responding to public events.