U.S. Customs and Border Protection once again threw its annual holiday party at Gracie Mansion, but the event is getting the thumbs down from an immigrant rights activist in a year where federal immigration enforcement has gained so much attention.
The soiree on Thursday was the fourth year in a row that the CBP holiday party has taken place at Gracie Mansion, the official home of the New York City mayor, including three years under President Joe Biden, mayor’s spokesperson Fabien Levy said.
The Adams administration determined in 2022 that there was a “city purpose” in allowing CBP to celebrate at the site, Levy said. CBP’s website describes the agency “as combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection into one coordinated and supportive activity.”
Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the statewide nonprofit New York Immigration Coalition, rebuked the mayor for allowing CBP to use Gracie Mansion.
“It’s outrageous that Mayor Adams would host CBP at Gracie Mansion,” Awawdeh said in a statement. “At a time when nearly 4 million immigrant New Yorkers are under attack by the Trump administration, Eric Adams is clearly more beholden to President Trump than the … New Yorkers who voted him into office and he took an oath to represent as mayor.”
City taxpayers don’t foot the bill for the event, which is entirely funded by CBP, including staffing costs, Levy said. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how much, if at all, CBP pays to use the space.
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro attended in place of Mayor Eric Adams, and the photographer was Benny Polatseck, the mayor’s multimedia producer, according to a mayor’s office “event debrief” document obtained by Gothamist.
Gracie Mansion also provided a DVD of Home Alone to play in the library, according to the document.
A spokesperson for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he would continue to allow CBP to host their holiday party at Gracie Mansion when he is mayor.
Elizabeth Kim contributed reporting.
