In a heated race for Metropolis Corridor, the packed area of candidates is everywhere in the map of their various approaches to policing.
Frontrunner and Democratic nominee Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani (D-Queens) has confronted criticism for his earlier help of efforts to defund the police, whereas former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has known as for extra NYPD officers to be employed — and Mayor Eric Adams has defended the work of his administration’s NYPD, led by Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
A survey revealed earlier this 12 months by the Residents’ Finances Fee discovered that although emotions of security amongst New Yorkers have climbed since 2023, they continue to be decrease than pre-pandemic ranges. Crime charges have dropped considerably for the reason that pandemic, but emotions of unease stay, in accordance with the survey, particularly amongst residents of the Bronx and Black and Hispanic New Yorkers.
As public security proves to be a high problem within the election and the political atmosphere heats up within the wake of July’s devastating Midtown mass taking pictures, here’s a rundown of the place every main mayoral candidate stands on policing and the function of the NYPD.
Zohran Mamdani
Having made earlier calls to “#DefundTheNYPD” in 2020, Mamdani has since backed away from his robust stance in opposition to the NYPD and policing extra broadly. Within the wake of the July 28 taking pictures in a Midtown workplace constructing, he mentioned that such earlier feedback are “out of step” along with his present mayoral bid.
“To be very clear, as I have been over the course of this campaign, I’m not defunding the police, I’m not running to defund the police,” Mamdani mentioned on July 30 at his first public look for the reason that taking pictures.
Mamdani mentioned on the convention that he’s in favor of dismantling the Strategic Response Group, the NYPD’s counterterrorism and protest response group shaped in 2015. The SRG has been steadily deployed in response to mass protests lately and has confronted criticism for its “violent” and “militarized” response strategies.
“There is a need to ensure that every act we take is one that is actually delivering public safety,” Mamdani mentioned on the July 28 convention. “And what we see right now, especially with regards to how we respond to protest, is not in line with that.”
Mamdani has been outspoken in his criticism of the NYPD, however has softened his stance over time. Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Mamdani mentioned at a Tuesday Nationwide Night time Out Towards Crime occasion in Brooklyn that, if he had been elected mayor, he would work to finish the NYPD observe of responding to psychological well being calls. Flanked by cops, he mentioned town “must stop asking them to respond to nearly every single failure of the social safety net.”
The democratic socialist’s platform consists of making a “Department of Community Safety” to “prevent violence before it happens by prioritizing solutions which have been consistently shown to improve safety.” Mamdani hopes that by prioritizing the basis causes of crime somewhat than focusing too closely on enforcement, town can extra successfully cut back crime.
As mayor, Mamdani desires to “invest in citywide mental health programs and crisis response—including deploying dedicated outreach workers in 100 subway stations, providing medical services in vacant commercial units, and increasing Transit Ambassadors to assist New Yorkers on their journeys—expand evidence-based gun violence prevention programs, and increase funding to hate violence prevention programs by 800%.”
Although Mamdani continues to criticize Adams’ NYPD, if he had been elected mayor, he mentioned he would contemplate holding Tisch, Adams’ decide for commissioner, in her present function.
Andrew Cuomo
Since shedding the first, Cuomo has doubled down on criticizing Mamdani’s views on policing.
Cuomo, in obvious opposition to Mamdani’s want to dismantle the SRG, pitched a public security imaginative and prescient on Monday that included including 400 SRG officers to the police power over the course of 4 years in workplace.
“They are key to counter-terrorism, key to mass protests,” Cuomo mentioned on the press convention Monday. “It’s only going to get worse, not better.”
Along with increasing the SRG’s workers capability, Cuomo hopes to broaden its technological capabilities and “expand SRG’s drone and robotics capability for surveillance, bomb threat response, and disaster assessments.” The previous governor additionally desires to supply SRG officers with extra “lightweight riot gear and updated tactical vests.”
Extra broadly, Cuomo hopes to carry 5,000 new NYPD officers to the power, supply bonuses and incentives to officers to “boost morale, increase officer retention, and make the NYPD more competitive with other large city police forces’ salaries,” and crack down on “nuisance and quality of life crimes.”
Cuomo hopes so as to add hundreds extra officers to the NYPD power. Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Cuomo’s marketing campaign platform reads that security would be the “first priority of the Cuomo Administration.”
Cuomo, in search of to “make the subways safe and to restore rider confidence,” additionally desires to extend NYPD presence on subway automobiles and platforms. He plans to crack down on fare evasion “through better infrastructure” and “increase outreach to homeless individuals on subways.”
Although Cuomo seeks to ramp up policing, he has mentioned he’s in favor of “precision policing” — a method credited to former NYPD Commissioner Invoice Bratton that focuses on “specific crime hotspots and the small percentage of offenders responsible for the majority of crimes.”
“By concentrating resources in a hyper-local, data-driven way, law enforcement can deter criminal activity without over-policing entire communities,” Cuomo’s group wrote in its pitch for precision policing.
Police critics have criticized precision policing, arguing that it’s a continuation of stop-and-frisk.
Eric Adams
In his time as mayor, Adams has touted his personal prior expertise as an NYPD officer, the place he was a fierce advocate for Black officers, outspoken in opposition to police brutality, and an opponent of cease and frisk. Adams ultimately grew to become a captain earlier than leaving the power.
Adams has made public security a key tenet of his mayoralty, having entered workplace amid a pandemic-induced spike in crime.
Most just lately, Adams has sought to extend public security communications by partnering with the Citizen app — software program that may ship push notifications about security and crime to New Yorkers who be a part of.
The mayor is doubling down on his dedication to high quality of life policing, which deploys specially-trained NYPD officers to handle non-emergency points like unlawful mopeds and scooters, deserted autos, homeless encampments, out of doors drug use, and protracted noise complaints.
Adams and Tisch have deployed High quality of Life Groups, or Q-Groups, to each NYPD precinct in Brooklyn following a profitable pilot program that started in April. The town is planning to completely broaden the division to every precinct and housing command throughout New York Metropolis’s 5 boroughs by Labor Day.
“No police department in America is coming close to what the NYPD is doing on guns under Mayor Adams leadership, not one,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned at a July press convention about confiscating unlawful firearms. Picture by Dean Moses
The groups have drawn criticism from some who assume the initiative is a return to stop-and-frisk policing — a priority that Tisch addressed at a press convention in June.
“Yes, we are addressing quality of life issues, but we are doing it for different reasons than we did a generation ago,” Tisch mentioned. “Back then, this kind of enforcement was often used as a pretext to prevent more serious crime, and it was during a time when major crime was 75% higher than it is today. In 2025, this is not about preventing something worse. It’s about improving daily life.”
Adams is operating his reelection marketing campaign on “record not rhetoric,” in search of to tout his administration’s wins and slighting his opponents aiming to beat the incumbent. His marketing campaign web site lists his administration’s “public safety wins,” which embrace a drop in homicides in 2024, seizure of unlawful weapons, and the closure of unlawful smoke retailers.
Curtis Sliwa
Sliwa is operating because the Republican nominee and polling in fourth place in most polls — although, by some accounts his recognition beats out that of Adams.
The Republican argues in his marketing campaign platform that New York Metropolis is dealing with a “crisis of crime, lawlessness, and failed leadership.”
“Instead of standing up for victims, politicians have prioritized reckless policies that embolden criminals, tie the hands of law enforcement, and erode public safety,” Sliwa’s web site reads.
Curtis Sliwa seeks to broaden the NYPD’s police power and operations. Picture by Dean Moses
Sliwa additionally desires to broaden the police power by hiring 7,000 extra cops and reinstate the Anti-Crime Unit and Situations Groups to “proactively prevent violence.” Sliwa desires to broaden the Gang Unit to “dismantle violent street gangs and fight against efforts to eliminate the gang database,” improve “proactive and intrusive policing strategies to target illegal firearm carriers, repeat offenders, and violent criminals before crimes occur,” and cut back police response instances.
The Republican’s exhaustive public security platform consists of initiatives to extend officer retention, improve officer pay, reinstate the Homeless Outreach Unit, cut back recidivism, strengthen narcotics enforcement, and crack down on retail theft. Sliwa has criticized the Adams administration for what he sees as weak regulation enforcement.
