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During Wednesday night’s lively mayoral debate, Zohran Mamdani, the socialist candidate for New York City mayor, hinted at a transformative approach to handling certain emergencies. Emphasizing the importance of mental health professionals, Mamdani proposed that they should take the lead in specific crisis situations.
When the candidates were asked whether they would retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch if elected, Mamdani joined former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in addressing the question.
Mamdani expressed his intention to keep Tisch on board, stressing that his administration would be dedicated to ensuring both safety and affordability for all New Yorkers. “Our commitment to these goals will drive us to assemble a team composed of top-tier talent,” Mamdani remarked.
He criticized former Mayor Eric Adams for filling the higher ranks of the NYPD with what he described as “corruption and incompetence.” In contrast, Mamdani praised Commissioner Tisch for tackling a flawed system, making strides toward accountability, and successfully reducing crime across New York City’s boroughs.
Reiterating his commitment to excellence, Mamdani assured that under his leadership, the administration would maintain its focus on these objectives. He outlined plans to establish a “Department of Community Safety,” which would empower mental health professionals to address mental health crises, aligning resources and expertise where they are most needed.
“Because safety and justice is at the cornerstone of our pursuit of public safety and in doing so we will also be able to deliver our agenda for affordability,” he added.
In the past, Mamdani has expressed that he is against sending police on domestic dispute calls, for instance. During a “cross-cultural conversations” segment on the “Immigrantly” podcast in July 2020, he said:
Police do not create safety… there are so many responsibilities we’ve given to police that, frankly, should have nothing to do with their departments… if somebody is jaywalking, if somebody is surviving, going through domestic violence — there are so many different, different situations that would be far better handled by people trained to deal with those specific situations, as opposed to an individual with a gun.
During the debate, Republican candidate Sliwa added that he would ask Tisch to stay as well but predicted she would not stay with either Mamdani or Cuomo as mayor, because “she has railed against no cash bail.”
“Cuomo, the architect of no cash bail, Zohran, the apprentice of no cash bail. That’s why criminals are running in the street,” he said.
Cuomo also said he would ask her to stay on as police commissioner but doubted that Mamdani would follow through with his pledge to do so.
“The DSA’s position, his position has been to defund, disband the police. She wouldn’t take that. His current position, today’s position, was freeze the budget. That would cause a reduction in police. She has called for more police. I’ve called for more police. Mayor Adams has called for more police… DSA calls for eliminating misdemeanors. He wants to decriminalize prostitution,” Cuomo pointed out. “I don’t think she would support any of that.”
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The election takes place November 4, 2025.
