Almost 20 inches of snow fell on New York City on Sunday and Monday, canceling school for kids. This meant glorious fun for children of all ages as New Yorkers fashioned snowmen, made snow angels, and exchanged good-natured insults while tossing snowballs at each other.
A snowball fight was promoted on social media, and several dozen New Yorkers descended on Washington Park. The back and forth began to get rowdy, and someone called in the NYPD to restore order.
There was nothing "good-natured" about the response of those throwing snowballs. They turned the attack on the police, which led to two officers being injured.
HAPPENING NOW🚨: Absolutely disgusting scene in Washington Square Park are out there this afternoon hurling snowballs at NYPD officers. Vile. No respect for Law Enforcement in New York.
— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) February 23, 2026
🎥: @BGOnTheScene pic.twitter.com/2oohDJlQTD
This one gives a better idea of what the cops were facing.
Here it is. pic.twitter.com/dnHSXS6RhE
— Reza Chowdhury (@RezaC1) February 24, 2026
The Detective Endowment Association (DEA), the union representing active duty and retired NYPD detectives, was incensed.
Statement from DEA President Scott Munro:
— Detectives' Endowment Association (@NYCPDDEA) February 24, 2026
“What we saw in Washington Square Park today was not harmless fun — it was a deliberate, outrageous, and dangerous attack on uniformed police officers. The Detectives’ Endowment Association is calling on Mayor Mamdani and District… pic.twitter.com/AGYSH9YXUs
The police released two pictures of people wanted for assaulting a police officer.
The NYPD has released images of two people they are looking to question after several NYPD officers were hit with snowballs and injured on Monday.
— Crime In NYC (@Crime_In_NYC) February 24, 2026
Mamdani: "From the videos that I've seen, it looks like a snowball fight."
PBA President Patrick Hendry: "This was not just a… pic.twitter.com/pgXpr4Tinn
PBA President Patrick Hendry: "This was not just a 'snowball fight.' This was an assault - by adults throwing chunks of ice and rocks - that landed two police officers in the hospital with head and face injuries."
Mayor Zohran Mamdani didn't see it that way.
“From videos I’ve seen, it looks like a snowball fight,” Mamdani said, adding that two officers involved were “facing lacerations on their face.”
Asked whether he thought anyone involved in the incident should be charged with assaulting a police officer if the throwers were to be identified, Mamdani said: “I don’t.”
In a separate post on X, he called on New Yorkers to treat officers with respect but joked that “if anyone’s catching a snowball, it’s me.”
Mamdani’s initial lighthearted tone contrasted with other key officials. By day’s end, he was being accused by the city’s Police Benevolent Association of a “failure of leadership” and fueling longtime detractors who brought up his past criticisms of law enforcement.
New York's Governor Kathy Hochul disagreed with Mamdani about the severity of the assault.
“Our NYPD officers put themselves on the line to protect us every day. It is never acceptable to throw anything at a police officer, full stop.”
Mamdani apparently doesn't realize that a mayor has a different point of view than an activist protester who wants to defund the police.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, despite being reappointed by Mamdani, sided with her officers.
Here it is. pic.twitter.com/dnHSXS6RhE
— Reza Chowdhury (@RezaC1) February 24, 2026
Some in the crowd said that the police "overreacted."
“If the cops decided to scoop up a little snow and play along it would’ve been a great moment for the community, people would’ve liked the police more,” Django Spadola of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, told the Gothamist. “But they chose to shove people and get angry and they embarrassed themselves.”
This reaction is a sign of the times.
"At first I thought it was funny,” said Caleb Michel.
“I don't know the backstory, but I thought they were kind of just walking around being cops and then getting pelted,” he said. “That was kind of overkill by the whole group.”
Should Mamdani condemn those who threw snowballs at police?
“It depends. I mean, he's slick with his words, so he might be able to say something cool about it,” Michel said.
Yeah, Michel. Real "cool" to send a cop to the hospital after he's hit with a chunk of ice.
Related: The Return of Class Warfare to the Political Arena
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