In a total betrayal of his voters, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani canceled his predecessor Eric Adams’ plan to hire 5,000 additional NYPD officers, capping the force at ~35,000, down from ~40,000. This is just the latest in a number of anti-police policies and statements from the socialist mayor.
Additionally, Mamdani proposes a $22 million cut to the NYPD’s $6.4 billion budget, amid an inherited $5.4 billion gap. Mamdani has proposed making up the slack by raising taxes on high earners and corporations, thereby making the city even less livable for ordinary people.
The budget mentioned “significantly reducing current vacancies,” drawing attention to potential funding implications for the NYPD based on unfilled positions. Mamdani stated, “I know that for those who have watched budget after budget, it is tempting to assume that we are engaging in the same dance as our predecessors. Let me assure you, nothing about this is typical. That’s why our solutions won’t be either.”
Adding to this point, he alleged, “There are two paths to bridge this gap. The first is the most sustainable and the fairest path. This is the path of ending the drain on our city and raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers and the most profitable corporations.”
“And if we do not go down the first path, the city will be forced down a second, more harmful path. Faced with no other choice, the city would have to exercise the only revenue lever fully within our own control. We would have to raise property taxes,” he claimed, “We would also be forced to raid our reserves to balance the budget as required by law.”
Many drew attention to an infamous social media interaction from 2020. Ben Max, a legal scholar, said, “Cuomo: when people are saying ‘defund the police, ‘ they are saying they want to see real, fundamental change.”
Continuing, the post read, “He says the state is passing an important package of reforms and local mayors/police departments must also hear the people & make changes.” Responding, Mamdani quipped, “No, we want to defund the police.”
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Later in 2025, while defending his proposal to further limit police, he added, “When police are made to respond to every single failure of the social safety net, this is the result: forced overtime, declining quality of life, and an exodus of officers. Our proposal for a Dept. of Community Safety will allow police to do the jobs they actually signed up for.”
Earlier, he also came out in support of banning police from chasing criminals. “From Jan-Nov 2024, NYPD high-speed chases led to 398 crashes—up 47% from last year. In Astoria, the 114th precinct reported the 7th-highest rate of high-speed police chases in NYC,” he claimed, “The NYPD must enforce its Patrol Guide & stop reckless chases. Astorians deserve better.”
“On Tuesday, @Cb1Queens voted to send @NYCMayor & @NYPDPC a letter urging the NYPD to eliminate unnecessary vehicular police chases,” he said, “The letter also calls for more responsible thresholds for what warrants a police chase & making the NYPD’s chase policy publicly accessible.”
Watch Trump skewer Mamdani here:
Featured image: Bingjiefu He, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons