Mayoral aspirant and Queens Assemblymember, Zohran Mamdani, has recently proposed the establishment of a new Department of Community Safety, a plan he plans to implement if he wins the mayoral seat. The Queens-based representative running for mayor, explained on Monday that his goal is to allocate $1.1 billion towards a novel, standalone safety department within City Hall, should he be elected in the forthcoming mayoral race. The Assemblymember, representing Astoria and Long Island City segments, elaborated on his vision for the new Department of Community Safety in a detailed 17-page blueprint released on Tuesday. This proposed city department intends to fortify safety in the metropolitan area, and minimize crime rates, through methods independent from the police network.
The fresh department is set to handle investments in mental health services and non-profit organizations dedicated to the prevention of community-based gun violence. The document approximates a budget of $1.1 billion necessary to run the department. Of this budget, Mamdani anticipates that $605 million would be redirected from other departments and offices from within the existing City Hall framework. As for the remaining $455 million, new revenue sources, not entirely outlined as of yet, would fund it, says Mamdani.
Mamdani suggests, ‘This is a proposition for a department that will propose and widen mental health outreach initiatives all around the city, further encouraging gun violence deterrence programs. It will safeguard New Yorkers from being denied the promises made to them many years ago.’ He further opines that while the police force does have an important role, current circumstances make them deal with the consequences of a fragile social safety net, hence obstructing them from performing their true duties.
The Queens lawmaker ensures that his plan would offer city-dwellers a pathway to true safety. ‘This scheme will ascertain that when New Yorkers commute on the train, or walk their streets, they are rest-assured that their safety is a guaranteed provision of their city,’ he further elaborated. He laid out that the primary objective of the DCS would be to prevent crimes before they occur, by taking on the root causes.
Mamdani’s initiative outlined four main components to target crime reduction, namely; mental health, gun violence, hate crime, and victim services. A significant portion of the plan was dedicated to discussing an increase in funding for current programs, consolidating them under one roof. The proposed DCS would dispatch mental health professionals across over 100 subway stations, transmutate the unused MTA commercial spaces into medical service facilities, and broaden the city’s Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division as part of the mental health focus.
To mitigate gun violence, Mamdani recommends directing $337 million towards New York City’s Crisis Management System. A system which collaborates with local non-profit organizations to assign interrupter teams to curb violence in high-risk regions and among susceptible individuals. Part of the DCS plan includes financial support for youth educational programs as well as training on hate crime curriculum.
Mamdani, aligned with the Democratic Socialist philosophy, didn’t shy away from voicing criticism against fellow candidates Mayor Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo for their public safety policies. His campaign stated, ‘The Department of Community Safety will usher in a new chapter, diverging from the ineffective ‘solutions’ championed for years by Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo that have let New Yorkers down.’ Concerns revolving around public safety and affordability continue to dominate the preferences of the New York City electorate.
Mamdani is just one of the many candidates to reveal a public safety proposal, yet he stands apart in being the only Queens representative running for a mayoral position without a plan to bolster police numbers. Since assuming office with a public safety narrative, Adams faced a significant decrease in officer count. The current mayor has repeatedly vowed to expedite recruitment to regain pre-pandemic police headcount but has faced roadblocks in piquing potential candidate interest.
Within the same context, Cuomo communicated his intent to recruit 5,000 new NYPD officers if he wins the election, which equates to a 15% increase. ‘New Yorkers are entitled to a sense of safety in their neighbourhoods, on their streets and while riding the subways,’ Cuomo stated. ‘My plan aspires to bring discipline, responsibility and leadership into the police force while giving due regard to civil liberties and refurbishing trust within our communities.’
Former Comptroller Scott Stringer, also a previous mayoral aspirant, divulged his public safety strategy on Tuesday. He too pledged to recruit more policemen and proposed a comprehensive overhaul of their work schedules for better retention. Stringer highlighted, ‘At present, there are only 33,473 NYPD officers — the lowest count since 1991, even while the population surged by almost 1 million more residents.’ He called this situation unacceptable and resolved to fix the severe recruitment and retention crisis at the NYPD, ‘the biggest hurdle in our path to a safer city.’
Taking Mamdani’s positions, certain critics have accused him of being anti-police. His rivals, including Cuomo, claimed that a Mamdani-led administration would lead to cuts in police funding. When asked if the proposed DCS would entail slicing police funding, Mamdani countered any alluding to DCS policies reducing the number of uniformed officers on the beat, asserting, ‘This will not affect the police department’s funding in any way,’ Mamdani clarified in a press conference. ‘This is merely a new department aimed at ensuring public safety and enabling the police to concentrate on what they do best.’
George Grasso, ex Chief Criminal Court judge in Queens and former NYPD official, communicated to the Eagle on Tuesday that he would probably back a novel public safety agency, as long as it didn’t drain resources from the police and ensured effective coordination with the NYPD. Grasso, who suffered defeat by Melinda Katz in the 2023 Democratic primary for the Queens District Attorney, gave credit to Mamdani for his innovative ideas, although he cautioned, ‘the devil is going to be in the details.’
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