Videos circulating on social media show a rain of snowballs coming down on officers attending the event, which was organised online in the wake of a major blizzard.

In other clips, angry officers are seen responding to the barrage by shoving participants in the fight to the ground.

In a statement, New York’s newly-elected left-wing mayor, Zohran Mamdani, urged members of the public to treat police and other public workers out during the blizzard “with respect”, CBS reports.

However, he added that he didn’t think those who targeted officers should be prosecuted, explaining: “I’ve seen the videos of this snowball fight. It looks like a snowball fight.”

New York’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, is apparently less convinced.

“I want to be very clear: the behaviour depicted [in the videos] is disgraceful, and it is criminal,” she said on X.

“Our detectives are investigating this matter.”