NEW YORK — A city official who garnered widespread progressive support by promising to arrest a foreign leader upon his arrival in New York has announced a minor adjustment to the initiative: pointing out that the city legally cannot do that.

The reversal comes just before the foreign leader's scheduled visit to the UN General Assembly in September. Following a legal review of the original 2024 pledge, the official's office concluded that enforcing an International Criminal Court warrant falls outside the independent legal authority of a municipal government, particularly when the United States explicitly refuses to recognize the ICC's jurisdiction over non-member states.

"While our initial rhetoric about arresting visiting dignitaries was highly effective politically, we have since been informed of the American Service-Members' Protection Act," said a spokesperson, explaining the gap between the official's stated desires and federal extradition law. "We are now transitioning to our secondary strategy, which is asking the federal government to completely reverse decades of established policy and execute the warrant for us."

The foreign leader is expected to travel freely through the city next month, reassured by the realization that local political grandstanding poses no immediate threat to the federal government's unwavering protection of visiting officials.