Was a snowball fight in Washington Square Park merely a moment of old-fashioned winter revelry — or a criminal assault of police officers trying to rein in a raucous crowd?
The large snowball fight, which was promoted on social media, turned into a political reckoning for Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the episode drew condemnation from top officials. NYPD Commissioner Jessicia Tisch called it “disgraceful” and “criminal.” Gov. Kathy Hochul said it was “never acceptable to throw anything at a police officer, full stop.”
On Tuesday, Mamdani struck a different tone.
“First I want to say that officers have been on the front line helping our city respond to this blizzard,” the mayor said, adding that all city workers deserved respect.
He then playfully added: “The only person in our city’s workforce who deserves to be treated with a snowball is me.”
But the questions continued. Several police officers suffered facial lacerations. Pressed on whether he thought the snowball slingers should be charged, Mamdani replied, “It looks like a snowball fight.”
The snowball fight was promoted on Instagram by the popular account Sidetalk, which has 1.8 million followers. Mamdani has made cameos in the group’s videos, which feature interviews and hijinks with New York characters. Footage from the gathering in Washington Square Park showed officers trying to escape the snowball fight by brandishing pepper spray and shoving people to the ground as the crowd became more aggressive.
Sidetalk did not respond to a request for comment. The group posted a 30-second video of the gathering Tuesday afternoon.
Multiple parkgoers told Gothamist they felt the reaction to the snowball fight was overblown.
“They knew they were coming into a snowball fight. Maybe I’m biased and too whimsical but you know what you sign up for,” said Sophie Balas, who lives nearby. “It’s ridiculous that they got a snowball thrown at them and so they then started tackling people to the ground.”
The large snowball fight was organized by the popular Instagram account Sidetalk.
Ryan Murphy/Getty Images
“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,” said Django Spadola of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. “But they chose to shove people and get angry and they embarrassed themselves.”
Others said what happened went beyond a casual snowball fight.
“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.”
Michel said he wasn’t sure if Mamdani should condemn the actions of the group who hit the cops with snow.
“It depends. I mean, he’s slick with his words, so he might be able to say something cool about it,” Michel said.
A police official said the NYPD was investigating the incident and reviewing video footage, despite Mamdani’s remarks. On Tuesday afternoon, the police released images of two suspects they said were wanted for assault on a police officer.
The NYPD released photos of two people they said are wanted for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
NYPD
The official provided an account of the incident, which began at 4:13 p.m. Monday after two officers assigned to the park responded to a 911 call about troublemakers throwing snowballs from the roof of a park bathroom.
As the officers tried to reach the snowball tossers, the officers were caught in the crossfire and called backup.
Some distance away, another crowd lobbed large chunks of snow onto a police car. Police officials said the officers in that video were responding to the call for back up.
The police scrambled to waiting vehicles while the crowd continued to pelt them. Video shows the snowball fight escalated into something more aggressive, with some parkgoers jeering the officers.
One officer shoved a parkgoer. Others pulled out pepper spray and a taser.
Police officials said that multiple officers were hit in their heads at close range with snowballs “causing injuries to the head, face, and neck area.”
The public bathroom in Washington Square Park where people were reportedly tossing snowballs from the roof.
Walter Wuthmann / Gothamist
The NYPD declined to respond to questions about whether the NYPD was aware the snowball fight was promoted on social media hours before it began, or why two officers entered the fray without more backup.
The incident recalled 2019 when videos of men splashing cops with water went viral. Police arrested three men in connection with the incident and charged them with criminal mischief, harassment, and disorderly conduct.
“When you disrespect our NYPD officers, you disrespect ALL New Yorkers. We don’t tolerate that in our city,” then-Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry called Mamdani’s response “a complete failure of leadership.”
“By ignoring their injuries and dismissing the incident, the mayor has sent a disgraceful message to every police officer who serves this city, and a dangerous message to every person who might be looking to attack a police officer in the future,” he said.
Additional reporting by Charles Lane
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