In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Midtown that left four dead, including an NYPD officer, Zohran Mamdani, the socialist candidate for mayor, publicly distanced himself from his once-promoted “defund the police” position.
“I am not running to defund the police,” Mamdani stated at a highly anticipated press conference, held just hours after he paid a condolence visit to the family of slain officer Didarul Islam.
Upon arriving back in New York from an ill-timed trip to Uganda, Mamdani headed straight to the Bronx to meet with Islam’s bereaved relatives.
Back in June, Mamdani had already tweeted that he wouldn’t pursue defunding the NYPD if elected. Yet despite that public shift, many within law enforcement circles remained doubtful of his sincerity, while political analysts said his shift was a practical necessity given the political climate.
“People are fools to believe he will help the city,” one police insider remarked. “A wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Lee Miringoff, who leads the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said Mamdani’s disavowal of the “defund” rhetoric was critical to the viability of his campaign.
“He didn’t want ‘defund the police’ to define his candidacy. It’s a necessary move for him,” Miringoff explained in comments to The Post.
The tragedy that struck Monday at a high-rise on Park Avenue, where gunman Shane Tamura opened fire, killing officer Islam and three others before taking his own life, presented the first significant leadership challenge for Mamdani.
Unfortunately for him, he was abroad at the time, celebrating his recent marriage.
Mayor Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo, both of whom are running independently and trail Mamdani in the polls, responded publicly about an hour after the incident, as did Republican contender Curtis Sliwa.
Later that evening, Adams visited Islam’s loved ones at the hospital, and the following day, both he and Governor Kathy Hochul participated in a roll call tribute to the fallen officer at the 47th Precinct.
In contrast, Mamdani initially issued a tweet 45 minutes after his political rivals, referring to the officer as still “in critical condition,” despite confirmed reports that Islam had already died.
The next morning, Mamdani followed up with a more personal message honoring Islam’s immigrant roots and his journey as a Bangladeshi police officer. But the delayed response and his previous record on policing drew sharp criticism, especially for his call to abolish the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group.
Upon returning to New York on Wednesday, Mamdani made a quiet visit to the Bronx to meet with Islam’s family in private. He brought a large bouquet of flowers and refrained from answering media questions before or after the meeting, though he was seen embracing a grieving family member.
Later, he appeared at a press conference alongside Shamsul Haque, a co-founder of the Bangladeshi American Police Association and retired NYPD lieutenant, as well as the brother of Aland Etienne, one of the civilians killed in the Park Avenue shooting.
Asked whether he still intended to eliminate the NYPD’s SRG, which had responded to Monday’s attack, Mamdani nodded in affirmation.
He maintained that the SRG has historically been misused during protest responses and has contributed to violations of civil liberties. He argued the unit should be replaced with a different type of emergency task force.
“There is a need to ensure that every act we take is one that is actually delivering public safety,” he said. “And what we see right now, especially with regards to how we respond to protests, is not in line.”
Mamdani also sought to clarify that his controversial anti-police tweets from years past do not represent the stance of his current campaign, which acknowledges the importance of law enforcement while advocating for social services to take the lead in specific crisis calls.
He reiterated that roles such as handling mental health emergencies and domestic disturbances should be taken on by trained social workers instead of police officers.
“My statements in 2020 were made amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd,” he said.
Some of his past tweets included statements like “Queer liberation means defund the police,” “Defund the Haram Police,” and the declaration that “defunding the police” is “a feminist issue.”
In the same year, Mamdani also tweeted: “We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.”
He also posted on August 6, 2020: “White supremacy has many faces, from the police & prison systems in America to occupation & apartheid in Palestine.”
Ross Wallenstein, a Democratic strategist with Wall to Wall Communications, dismissed the notion that Mamdani has genuinely shifted his views since the peak of the George Floyd demonstrations.
“His latest tweet calling to disband the NYPD unit that responded to this week’s horrific shooting was in December. It wasn’t from 2020,” Wallenstein said. “New Yorkers won’t be fooled by this in November.”
While Mamdani repeatedly tried to steer the conversation back to Officer Islam and the other victims, he also took aim at Cuomo, accusing him of using the tragedy for political advantage.
“It is beyond me that politicians are looking to use these days to score such cynical political points, on the very day that I held the father of Officer Islam in my arms and he could not utter a single word,” he said.
“For the former governor to spend an entire day speaking almost exclusively about me and barely about the New Yorkers who have been killed is indicative of the very politics New Yorkers want to leave in the past.”
Cuomo, Mamdani, and Adams are all expected to be present at Officer Islam’s funeral on Thursday.
David Paterson, another past New York governor, praised Mamdani for reversing his stance on police funding.
“I take Mamdani at his word. I’m just astounded it took a horrific shooting strategy to reconsider his position,” Paterson said.
Gregory Floyd, who leads Teamsters Local 237 and represents NYPD school safety personnel and NYCHA security officers, said Mamdani’s new message comes too late to be credible.
“To come out and say it now because it’s unpopular, it’s too late now,” Floyd said. Floyd is Black.
Ken Frydman, a Democratic consultant and longtime advisor to police unions, said Mamdani’s messaging remains contradictory.
“Defund the NYPD or not defund the NYPD?” he quipped. “There isn’t a cop I know who trusts this guy.”
{Matzav.com}
