“I’ve spoken to him directly about how I think of ICE as a cruel agency that does nothing to serve the interest of public safety. I’ve spoken about how I think it should be abolished.”

The building — 26 Federal Plaza — has become a flashpoint for protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown as it’s the site of an immigration court that masked immigration agents have used to make arrests, even in the wake of a federal judge restricting such detentions back in May.

In his interview with Rolling Stone, Mamdani emphasized that ICE’s “cruelty” is of no “intellectual concern” to the city.