Posting a video announcing that a review determined that the City of New York does not have legal authority to execute an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday brought it around to the obvious conclusion of said review and thus the NYPD will not be arresting Israeli dictator Benjamin Netanyahu during the UN General Assembly in September.

The first time Zo said it, sure. He’s a war criminal and a fugitive from justice. If the NYPD can and regularly does execute arrest warrants on suspects who have not committed a crime in the Five Boroughs but are wanted in other state and/or federal jurisdictions then it would stand to reason that “Bibi” could be cuffed and hauled off to the Hague for his genocidal campaign against Gaza.

The second, third, and however many other times the mayor said it? He proooooobably should have already done his homework by that point. Now that it turns out that only federal law enforcement can effect an international warrant then he just looks like kind of an asshole for getting people’s hopes up for what would have been that most cathartic of sights for untold millions worldwide.

All that being said, Mamdani is nevertheless moving the ball down the field. Benjamin Netanyahu will in all likelihood never set foot in the United States – his childhood home – again after 2029. More importantly, it also begins to set up a framework where Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are swiftly handed over to Dutch authorities for the collateral damage of their illegal war on Iran. Maybe Jack Smith can head back to the ICC and lead the prosecution just as an extra fuck you… And if you think that’s a pipe dream, maybe it is. Just maybe not that pipey given Marco Rubio’s Wall Street Journal op-ed literally headlined “Why We’re Dismantling the International Criminal Court” from last week.