Happy Thursday in New York City, where the snow may be melting, but the viral Washington Square Park snowball fight refuses to die.
For those who missed the drama, here’s what happened: dozens of New Yorkers, mostly teenagers and college students, gathered in Washington Square Park during the Feb. 23 blizzard for a snowball fight. A couple of NYPD officers who arrived for crowd control quickly became the target, with videos showing the officers retreating to their vehicles and later shoving people out of the way as hundreds of snowballs rained down on them.
Clips of the scene circulated widely on social media, sparking a debate over whether the moment constituted harmless winter fun or an assault on police. The two officers were later taken to the hospital with facial lacerations.
The incident immediately became a political football. Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, called it “disgraceful” and “criminal.” The governor, city comptroller and the Police Benevolent Association condemned the attack, with the latter calling for arrests.
Other New Yorkers, especially skewing toward the younger generations, dismissed the episode as lighthearted fun that got a bit out of hand. They were initially joined by Mayor Mamdani, who said at a press conference that, “from the videos that I’ve seen, it looks like a snowball fight,” before later walking back his comment.
Yesterday, 18-year-old Eric Wilson Jr. became the second person arrested in connection with the incident, after 27-year-old Gusmane Coulibaly was arraigned last week. Coulibaly initially faced a felony assault charge, though prosecutors later declined to pursue it.
Wilson turned himself in to the Sixth Precinct stationhouse yesterday morning and faces charges of obstructing governmental administration and harassment. Police are still searching for at least four additional suspects believed to have participated in the snowball barrage.
Well, that snowballed quickly.
After months of community criticism, the city Parks Department has cut the size of the planned skate park at Mount Prospect Park by more than half, from 44,000 square feet to 19,000 square feet.
President Donald Trump removed Kristi Noem from her position as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security after strong rebukes this week. He named her “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” instead and selected a new leader for DHS.
NYPD recorded the fewest shooting incidents, shooting victims and murders of any January-February period in the department’s history.
Miriam and Adina Steinberg, a mother and daughter from Mill Basin, have been stranded, sheltering in a safe room in Jerusalem for hours each day since Saturday, when the United States and Israel launched their attack on Iran. They still have no way to get back to Brooklyn.
Sid Rosenberg, a morning host on 77WABC Radio, issued an on-air apology yesterday after he called Mayor Zohran Mamdani a “Radical Islam cockroach” and a “jihadist” in a now-deleted social post.
Of the 30,000 consumer complaints filed in New York state in 2025, the top gripes were about getting ripped off — both online and in person.
Brooklyn locations provided the majority of speeding tickets issued in 2025, with five of the 10 worst speeders in all of New York state being the offenders who were caught in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Public Library’s Greenpoint branch will host a free creative writing workshop for teens on March 11 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center. Pie and free giveaways are included.
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Our World In Photos
Photo: Amr Nabil/AP
CAIRO — Meditative spinning to connect with God, purge the ego, and experience divine love: Female whirling dervish Afnan Shaher, spins as she is greeted by fans during a performance to mark the holy month of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.
For more pictures like this, see Our World in Photos.
Lear DeBessonet, director of ‘Ragtime’ at Lincoln Center, finds home and inspiration in Brooklyn
Lear DeBessonet, Artistic Director of Lincoln Center Theater. Photo: Matthew Murphy
Lear DeBessonet’s debut production as artistic director is the Broadway revival of the musical “Ragtime,” which opened in the fall of 2025.
“If I hadn’t lived here,” DeBessonet said of her 23 years in New York, “I don’t think I would have even been able to understand some parts of the story that have informed my direction.”
“Brooklyn is just this glorious, explosive symphony of humanity 24 hours a day. Part of why I love it so much is because it is this collection of people coming from all over the world who have made their homes together in Brooklyn,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle.
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By Milt Priggee
For the Road
As seen on TV: Cesar Ryan Sajulan, a Brooklyn-based pastry chef originally from the Philippines, is among 16 competitors on Food Network’s new competition series “The Ultimate Baking Championship,” which premieres March 9 at 9 p.m. Learn more about the show.
Happy Birthday to “2 Fast 2 Furious” star Eva Mendes!
On This Day in 1872, the Eagle reported: “The Centennial Celebration Commissioners assembled at Philadelphia yesterday, and merely organized for business today.”
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