Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani — who has confronted warmth recently over years-old social media posts important of the police — got here face-to-face with an viewers of NYPD officers Tuesday night time and informed them he would, if elected, spare them the accountability of responding to most psychological well being calls.
“We must stop asking them to respond to nearly every single failure of the social safety net,” Mamdani stated at Brooklyn’s Grand Military Plaza as a contingent of cops from the close by 78th Precinct flanked him for an annual “National Night Out” occasion. “We must stop making it impossible for them to do their jobs by asking them to do every other job we can think of.”
Mamdani, a socialist who defeated Andrew Cuomo in final month’s Democratic mayoral main, was referring to his proposal to launch the Division of Group Security, an company that may be tasked with responding to calls about people experiencing psychological well being crises. Presently, law enforcement officials deal with many such calls, however Mamdani argues that places too massive of a burden on them, and the brand new company would enable them to as a substitute concentrate on crime preventing.
Additionally in his remarks, Mamdani thanked officers, saying he gained a renewed appreciation for his or her service after final week’s mass taking pictures in Midtown, which left 4 New Yorkers lifeless, together with NYPD Officer Didarul Islam. “I learned in the lesson from Detective Didarul Islam’s life the sacrifice and the service that so many officers extend to this city each and every day, no matter which precinct that they belong to,” he stated.
Most officers on the occasion maintained a distance from Mamdani as he arrived, however didn’t overtly voice displeasure with him.
Two cops — the commanding captain of the 78th Precinct and an officer of Bangladeshi descent — approached Mamdani to shake fingers and take footage with him. Mamdani informed reporters afterward the officer thanked him for his public response to the killing of Islam, who was initially from Bangladesh.
Zohran Mamdani and an NYPD officer from 78th precinct on August 5, 2025. (Chris Sommerfeldt/NYDN)
Mamdani’s engagement with the police comes as Cuomo and Mayor Adams, who’re each working as independents towards him in November’s normal election, have seized on 2020 social media messages he posted that referred to as for the defunding of the NYPD and referred to the division as a “racist” and “anti-queer” entity posing a “major threat” to public security.
As a mayoral candidate, Mamdani has distanced himself from his 2020 tweets, saying he now not helps defunding the NYPD and that he needs to maintain the division’s headcount flat whereas relieving cops of psychological well being duties.
Nonetheless, a number of NYPD union heads, most of whom are backing Adams for reelection, have bristled at his previous posts, saying they worry the stances mirror his true emotions about police.
“It is incumbent upon each and every one of us to lay out a vision that does more than trot out the same ideas we’ve heard time and time again,” he stated.
State Lawyer Normal Letitia James, who joined Mamdani on the Grand Military Plaza occasion and is supporting his mayoral bid, recommended he nonetheless must do some work to make sure NYPD officers belief him. To that finish, she proposed internet hosting a gathering between Mamdani and NYPD leaders at Manhattan’s Riverside Church.
Initially Printed: August 5, 2025 at 7:58 PM EDT
