New York's socialist mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani promises to respect police officers, but leaders of the “abolitionist” group that helped him seize power say they are “pigs” and “lazy cowards.”
A member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) will control one of the country's largest police forces after taking office on 1 January. Mamdani previously advocated dismantling the NYPD as a member of the state legislature, a position consistent with the DSA platform.
Mamdani told the press while campaigning for his public safety program to be more moderate than DSA's despite winning the mayoral election by using from thousands DSA staff and volunteers. (RELATED: How America's Largest Socialist Group Could Elect a Million Mamdanis)
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani arrives for a Veterans Day event at Volunteers of America – Commonwealth Veterans Residence on November 11, 2025 in the Soundview section of the Bronx in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
As mayor, Mamdani will inherit many public safety issues, including those of Rikers Island. uncertain futureNew York Police Department (NYPD) bleeding officers hundreds, and the surge in crime during the COVID-19 pandemic continues unabated.
Misdemeanors“main” criminal offenses and non-core criminal offenses According to the NYPD, such incidents have been occurring more frequently in New York every year since 2020. The city's seven major crimes combined—murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny—reached a 17-year high of 126,786 in 2023 and fell just 2.2% in 2024.
If the DSA gets its way, Mamdani will abolish the justice system as we know it.
“For the entire working class to achieve collective liberation, we must limit, reduce and abolish the carceral forces of the state—from the prisons and police themselves to their manifestations in all forms in society,” the DSA website states.
The DSA demands that America “end the criminalization of working-class survival,” “invest in community governance and care, not cops,” and ensure “freedom for all prisoners.”
Members of the DSA National Political Committee have used social media for years to harshly criticize police officers, calling them “pigs” And “lazy cowards” and accusing them of “literally killing us“
“In 1886, pigs killed 4 workers in Haymarket Square and 4 more later, and this day should always remind us that every fundamental right we have was won in blood,” committee co-chair Megan Romer said in May 2024, speaking out against police killings of workers’ rights protesters during the Haymarket Square riots in Chicago, Illinois. “This does not stop the fascists from unleashing even more; they won’t stop until we win (and we will).”
Mamdani did not respond to DCNF's request for comment. The New York office of the DSA did not respond to a request for comment.
DSA's willingness to compromise with Mamdani remains to be seen. Just before the election, the group passed a resolution pledging to “serve as an effective external ally to a potential Zohran Mamdani administration,” although some wanted to set stricter expectations for him. The politician reported.
“If we succeed in electing Zohran Mamdani, our priority will not be to pursue the mayor’s mistakes and demand accountability, an orientation the left has adopted in moments of decline and marginalization,” reads a draft article of the resolution that was later deleted, Politico reported.
The mayor-elect told reporters in August that he doesn't support measures like eliminating misdemeanor offenses and that his “platform is not the same as DSA's national platform,” The New York Times reported. He strives create a new $1.1 billion “Department of Public Safety” that his campaign says compensates for the workload of police officers, allowing some emergency situations to be handled by consultants, medical workers and “breakers of violence.” (RELATED: Blue City Violence Prevention Activists Continue to Identify Violence Allegations)
Never call the police for help. Never. https://t.co/oMIGB4eHEW
— Andrew (@andrewized) September 13, 2022
Mamdani an idea came to me for the department from his new chief of staffclose ally of the DSA, City and State Reported.
Even Mamdani's stated plans should worry those who prefer more traditional law enforcement systems, said Charles Lehman, who studies public safety at the conservative Manhattan Institute.
“My biggest concern at this point is his commitment to not try to increase the size of the sworn force,” Lehman told DCNF. “With the NYPD losing 300 officers a month, this will inevitably lead to further attrition, making the city less safe,” he added, citing the August report amNew York.
“I am also very concerned about how he will handle the upcoming closure of Rikers, which is legally scheduled to occur in August 2027,” Lehman said. “Paradise's prisons won't be ready by then. What's his plan? Will he just let the city have no prisons?”
The city's prison system is planned to be updated by almost 80%. decline by maintaining capacity after Rikers left, bringing DSA's dream closer to reality, Lehman achieved marked in his research.
Mamdani emphasized on the campaign trail, he no longer supports protecting the NYPD. He also apologized to NYPD officers during the October incident. Fox News Interview for his disdain for police early in his career, adding that he strives to “represent the men and women of the NYPD.”
“I apologize because I want to work with these officers, and I know that these officers, these men and women who serve in the NYPD, put their lives on the line every single day,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani is still far from convincing some believe his far-left vision will help the police.
“Even if he has abandoned his past radical plans — and I am skeptical about that — he has promised to do a lot of things that will undoubtedly affect the city for the worse,” Lehman told DCNF.
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