{"id":190890,"date":"2026-08-16T13:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/190890\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T13:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:08:16","slug":"at-brooklyn-navy-yard-mamdanis-jobs-agenda-collides-with-his-anti-ice-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/190890\/","title":{"rendered":"At Brooklyn Navy Yard, Mamdani\u2019s jobs agenda collides with his anti-ICE politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anti-ICE activists are vowing to continue campaigning to push Crye Precision<\/a> out, but the tactical-apparel maker remains in place under Lindsay Greene, the Yard president and CEO,\u00a0 whom Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> reappointed last month.<\/p>\n

The company sold cold-weather gear to U.S. Border Patrol this year, putting a fresh spotlight on the tenant as activists press Mamdani\u2019s administration to act. Yet officials at the city-owned industrial campus say BNYDC\u2019s leases generally constrain what can be done while a tenant remains in compliance, making a future renewal decision a potentially more consequential battleground.<\/p>\n

Lindsay Greene<\/a>, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, recently told amNewYork there has \u201cnot been any sort of edicts or pressure\u201d from the administration over the Yard\u2019s mission, arguing its longstanding focus on manufacturing jobs and economic mobility already aligns with Mamdani\u2019s economic justice agenda.<\/p>\n

That continuity has not deterred Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard<\/a>, a grassroots campaign that began in September 2024 and initially focused on Crye and drone manufacturer Easy Aerial.<\/a> Organizers have staged regular pickets and noise demonstrations demanding that companies that are linked to immigration enforcement and the Israeli military be removed from public land.<\/p>\n

Speaking to amNewYork during an Aug. 5 picket, an organizer who identified herself as Iman said the group was not counting on Mamdani\u2019s election alone to change BNYDC\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of politicians say things before they get elected, so for us, it\u2019s not really about who\u2019s in office,\u201d she said, before adding, \u201cbut we don\u2019t count on them to really enact any change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fight cuts across two Mamdani priorities: protecting industrial jobs and pushing back against the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown.\n<\/p>\n

Since taking office, Mamdani has reinforced city sanctuary protections<\/a> and repeatedly denounced federal immigration enforcement, including calling for ICE\u2019s abolition. <\/p>\n

On Aug. 12, he joined Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James as Hochul announced $7.25 million for legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children facing deportation, saying the federal government\u2019s refusal to renew a contract with specialized providers was \u201cnothing less than a deportation order.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GovernorGovernor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday that New York will invest $7.25 million in legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children facing deportation.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

At the Navy Yard, however, Mamdani has opted for continuity at the top.<\/p>\n

When Greene was reappointed in July<\/a>, Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su praised her for helping put public land to work for \u201cgood jobs, artists, innovators and entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 300-acre Yard houses more than 550 businesses supporting more than 13,000 jobs, according to BNYDC. Greene said Crye, a longtime tenant, employs hundreds of people, including skilled seamstresses, and uses modern garment-production technology.<\/p>\n

Federal records show another side of the company\u2019s work. USAspending records<\/a>\u00a0show U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement directly awarded Crye two purchase orders totaling $433,520.10 for uniforms and jackets beginning in 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n

More recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded Crye a $39,681 purchase order in January for \u201cCrye brand cold weather apparel\u201d for U.S. Border Patrol\u2019s Houlton Sector in Maine. The order ran through April. Overall, USAspending lists about $3.3 million in federal awards to Crye over the trailing 12 months across 16 transactions, most from the Department of Defense.<\/p>\n

The campaign has also focused on alleged links between Crye and the Israeli military, although the nature of that relationship is disputed.\n<\/p>\n

Hyperallergic reported last year<\/a> that Crye denied having contracts with the Israel Defense Forces or Israeli manufacturers. The outlet also reported that a 2023 federal court filing submitted on Crye\u2019s behalf said its camouflage design had been adopted by armed forces including Israel, a statement Crye later told Hyperallergic was inaccurate. Hyperallergic also reported that Crye\u2019s MultiCam website listed Israeli tactical-equipment company Agilite as a licensee.<\/p>\n

Drop Site News separately reported in 2024<\/a> that Agilite uses the MultiCam pattern on gear it markets as being used by the Israeli military.<\/p>\n

Crye did not respond to repeated requests from amNewYork for comment.
\n\"\"Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard activists regularly picket outside the Brooklyn Navy Yard and say they plan to maintain a sustained presence as they push for Crye Precision\u2019s removal.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell\n<\/p>\n

On a tight lease<\/p>\n

Greene said BNYDC\u2019s leases generally do not give the corporation authority to govern a tenant\u2019s customers or what those customers do with products they purchase.<\/p>\n

Asked specifically whether Crye had come up in her conversations with Mamdani, Greene said it had not.\n<\/p>\n

A City Hall source similarly said the Mayor\u2019s Office does not get involved in individual Navy Yard leases and that evictions may only take place when tenants violate contractual requirements such as financial obligations, legal compliance or permitted uses.<\/p>\n

However, Council Member Shekar Krishnan, chair of the Council\u2019s Oversight and Investigations Committee, said public ownership should change the equation.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic land like the Navy Yard should not be doing business with companies that dress ICE officers and support ripping families apart,\u201d Krishnan said, adding that he was exploring \u201call tools at our disposal to keep public land away from ICE operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what those tools could include, his office said it was still exploring its options.\n<\/p>\n

Cornell Law School clinical professor David Reiss<\/a>, a real estate law expert, who reviewed two other Navy Yard leases and BNYDC\u2019s bylaws but not Crye\u2019s private agreement, told amNewYork that the legal options may look very different depending on whether Crye is still in the middle of a lease or seeking another term.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on other Navy Yard leases I have reviewed \u2014 not Crye\u2019s own, which I have not seen \u2014 Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation leases can only be terminated for specific things like nonpayment, misuse of the space, or sanctions-list status, not because of who a tenant\u2019s customers are or how they use a tenant\u2019s products,\u201d Reiss said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLease renewal is a different question,\u201d he added. \u201cLandlords generally have much broader discretion about whether to keep renting to a tenant once a lease has fully run its course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reiss said BNYDC would likely have broad discretion not to renew Crye, unless the company has an unexercised option giving it a contractual right to another term. A nonrenewal could still draw a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrye might argue the decision was arbitrary and capricious or exceeded BNYDC\u2019s corporate authority under state law,\u201d Reiss said. Federal constitutional claims involving retaliation, viewpoint discrimination or equal protection, he added, \u201ccould face significant doctrinal hurdles on these facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

That makes the terms of Crye\u2019s lease, and who sits on BNYDC\u2019s board when a renewal decision arrives, central to what happens next.\n<\/p>\n

BNYDC\u2019s bylaws<\/a> allow the mayor to appoint up to 29 members, including as many as 25 discretionary appointees who serve at the mayor\u2019s pleasure. The mayor may also remove members with or without cause.<\/p>\n

Reiss said that structure gives Mamdani \u201creal leverage\u201d over such decisions even though BNYDC itself is the landlord.\n<\/p>\n

When that question could arise for Crye remains unclear. amNewYork has not obtained the company\u2019s lease, and BNYDC did not provide requested details about its expiration date, renewal rights or whether the company has an option for another term despite repeated follow-ups.<\/p>\n

\"\"A protester outside the Brooklyn Navy Yard during an Aug. 5 demonstration calling on the city-owned industrial campus to cut ties with Crye Precision.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

For activists, Easy Aerial remains the model.<\/p>\n

BNYDC declined to renew the drone company\u2019s lease after a lengthy pressure campaign. Organizers claim their demonstrations helped produce the outcome, while Greene said the decision was made in late 2025 because of longstanding compliance problems and predated Mamdani taking office. <\/p>\n

Asked whether Mamdani\u2019s transition team or administration had a role in the decision, Greene said, \u201cThey did not have a role in the decision.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Easy Aerial\u2019s CEO previously told the New York Post<\/a> that unnamed board members had told him in private conversations that Mamdani was behind the nonrenewal. BNYDC denied that account.<\/p>\n

For now, organizers say the Crye campaign will continue.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cA sustained presence here is definitely vital to our campaign,\u201d Iman said.\n<\/p>\n