NYC cops would flee the job if Mandami wins: union leaders
As of Monday, 1,555 NYPD officers put in their papers — 48% more than the 1,049 who retired last year, and 65% more than a decade ago, when just 941 turned in their shields, according to NYPD data provided to The Post by the Police Benevolent Association.
Union leaders weren't aware of any time in history that retirements for the first six months of year were as high, and worry about the disastrous affect the lefty Mamdani could have on NYPD recruitment and retention.
3 An exodus of officers will get worse if Zohran Mamdani wins, police leaders said.
Christopher Sadowski
'We can't afford to have a mayor who ignores the problem or tries to take us backward,' said PBA President Patrick Hendry. 'We need a mayor who will speak up for police officers, and treat us and pay us like the professionals we are.'
The PBA hasn't endorsed a mayoral candidate in this year's race.
What the self-described Democratic socialist's policies could mean to public safety and New York's Finest is pushing some cops to leave, according to a Queens cop who is planning to put his papers in this month.
3 NYPD retirements are at an all time high, data shows.
Donald Pearsall / NY Post Design
'The Democratic candidate who won is very anti-cop,' said the officer, who has more than 20 years on the job. 'He has an extremist attitude and it's going to scare other cops and they will go out the door.'
The cop has been particularly incensed over 'blanket statements' Mandami has made about cops, including advocating for defunding the NYPD, a stance he later reversed during a debate in June.
Mandami has labeled the NYPD 'wicked and corrupt' on X, and called for the department to be dismantled.
'You've never met us but you're saying that we're biased?' said the cop. 'It's offensive to everyone in law enforcement. Meanwhile, he doesn't talk to cops.'
The officer — who took the test to join the NYPD a year after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center — said Mamdani's June 24 Democratic primary win cinched his decision to leave.
'Him winning the primary definitely made me 100% sure that this is the right decision,' said the cop, who asked to remain anonymous because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.
A new wave of anti-cop sentiment — similar to what the officer heard during the George Floyd protests of 2020 — also helped make up his mind, he said.
'We didn't get any support from politicians,' he said of the chaotic demonstrations which plagued the city and the nation in the months after Floyd's death.
'We need a leader that's not going to come with an anti-police attitude,' he said, pointing to Mayor Adams, a former police captain, a Democrat who will run on the Independent ticket. 'The current administration has been very supportive of cops.'
3 Retirements by detectives are also up, data showed.
Matthew McDermott
The NYPD's largest incoming classes were in 2005, when about 3,600 police officers joined the Force, so more cops are hitting the 20-year mark and are eligible to retire and take their pensions, NYPD spokeswoman Delaney Kempner pointed out.
'It is no secret that we are facing a staffing crisis across the NYPD, and hiring and recruitment efforts remain a priority,' the department said in a statement.
The NYPD has reduced the number of college credits required to become a cop to attract more candidates.
Rules that make it beneficial for cops to retire when they've had their best year financially are also sparking the 2025 exodus.
That's where many police officers found themselves after taking advantage of overtime as NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch deployed hundreds of cops underground to fight subway crime and improve public perception.
City Hall and Albany have been working to try to repair the staffing crisis with increased recruitment and a series of new Academy classes that have brought on about 1,700 new cops this year, the PBA pointed out.
'Nearly every leader now at 1 Police Plaza, City Hall and Albany agrees that this crisis is serious,' Hendry said.
The retirements aren't limited to the PBA.
The Detectives Endowment Association is also seeing an uptick this year, DEA President Scott Munro said.
So far, 606 gumshoes have retired as of July 1, according to the DEA's data. Last year, there were 455 retirements all year.
The NYPD has seen a 33% drop in the number of detectives in its ranks, to 4,716 today from a high of 7,000 in 2001, Munro said.
'If Mamdani does get elected there's going to be mass retirement,' Munro predicted. 'He doesn't believe in law enforcement.'
Lieutenants Benevolent Association President Lou Turco said some of Mamdani's comments about police officers in the past concerned him.
'Right now, we have a recruitment retention problem,' Turco said. 'But if he gets in, more guys with over 20 [years] are going to say 'What am I doing this for?''
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Ex-fighter jet pilot Stephen Fuhr is on a mission to change how we arm the military
OTTAWA - Not that long ago, former air force fighter pilot Stephen Fuhr was just one among many voices in Canada complaining about the way the federal government makes big defence purchasing decisions. At no point, he said, did it occur to him that he would wind up in his current position - as the prime minister's point person for fixing Canada's sclerotic military procurement system. 'I find it very ironic that I was one of many that complained ... why does it take so long?' said Fuhr, 59, in an interview with The Canadian Press. Fuhr knows first hand how the state of Canada's military procurement system feels to people on the ground - how byzantine government rules make vital equipment purchases move at molasses speed, leaving soldiers and pilots without the tools they need to fight a modern conflict. The once-prominent critic of former prime minister Stephen Harper government's management of defence - notably the original F-35 stealth fighter procurement process - is stepping up to change how the system works. Prime Minister Mark Carney named Fuhr secretary of state for defence procurement on May 13, giving him a new, narrowly focused junior role in cabinet. The Carney government's focus on reforming defence procurement is happening as new threats emerge on the world stage - and as Canada and other NATO allies come under heavy pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to ramp up defence spending by a staggering amount. Canada is also looking for ways to bolster its domestic defence industry and partner more with Europe as it pivots away from a more isolationist and protectionist United States. For the first time in a long time, the military is a core government priority. 'I feel good about it,' Fuhr said. 'Canadians are supportive of us being more involved in defence spending. There's a big opportunity for our industries and businesses in defence and being able to pull our weight on the world stage with our defence relationships.' It's also a moment of uncertainty - for Carney's government, for Canada and the world. Fuhr's background in the air force trained him to prepare for the unexpected. On Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed them into major U.S. buildings, Fuhr was in Inuvik, where he was flying a CF-18 on force-projection exercises. He spent the security crisis patrolling the Arctic skies as events unfolded south of the border, then was sent to CFB Comox on Vancouver Island, where he was kept on alert until Canada relaxed its air defence posture. 'It was pretty surreal,' he said. 'In the moment, we don't know if there's more. We just know these airplanes are coming and they have to land somewhere.' He was in the Royal Canadian Air Force for two decades and at one point was in charge of overseeing all of Canada's CF-18 Hornets. Formerly a conservative-inclined voter, he made the jump into federal politics with the Liberals a decade ago after becoming frustrated with the contentious F-35 purchase. Fuhr warned that the cost of the deal was doomed to explode and that the process had gone awry. He was right: the budget for the F-35 purchase has since ballooned and Ottawa is conducting a review of the project in response to the Trump administration's trade chaos. Still, Fuhr shrugs off the idea that he would chime in with his opinions about the F-35 at the cabinet table. 'My strong opinions are 10 years old, and a lot has changed in 10 years,' the Kelowna MP said. But he could end up helping to decide how the next big-ticket items roll out. Carney made numerous defence commitments in the spring election. One of them was a promise to establish a new defence procurement agency to speed up equipment purchases for the military, and that agency falls under Fuhr's mandate. The party's election platform pledged legislative changes to 'expand risk-based approaches' to purchasing approvals, 'centralize expertise from across government' and 'streamline the way we buy equipment for the military.' Canada's military has suffered from peacetime budget woes under governments of various stripes since the Cold War ended. Major items of military equipment are nearing the end of their usable lifespan and new purchases are moving slowly through a risk-averse and slow-moving bureaucracy. For the past half century, military purchasing decisions tended to involve multiple government departments. Carney's plan for this new agency would create one main point of contact, as in wartime. 'We're trapped outside the technology cycle, which is a really difficult place to be, and we have to get it done faster. It has to be more organized. It has to be easier for industry,' Fuhr said. Canada, in other words, is pushing for a military comeback. Fuhr is fresh off of a comeback of his own. He became a Liberal MP in 2015, when he rallied support from unlikely corners like the local Green Party, whose candidate stepped down to endorse Fuhr. A former chair of the House of Commons defence committee, he's been around the political block. But he was defeated in 2019 by Conservative Tracy Gray. He didn't run in 2021 but returned to the ballot in April, and this time he defeated Gray. This isn't the first time the government has tried to reform procurement. It's also not the first time there's been a cabinet-level position tied to procurement. The Harper government tapped Julian Fantino as associate minister of defence to overhaul procurement, and Justin Trudeau's Liberals promised multiple defence procurement reforms in the 2015 and 2019 elections. Neither government moved the needle much - and both failed to spend enough to address the Canadian Armed Forces equipment gap. Fuhr insisted it's different this time. 'If it was ever going to happen, it's going to happen now,' he said. He said Canada has to make a major 'lift' to meet its alliance defence commitments and Carney 'wants to get it done.' When asked what he brings to the role, Fuhr pointed not to his time in the air but to his work on the ground with the military and his family's aerospace business, SkyTrac Systems, which they eventually sold. 'I know what it's like for industry to try and get involved in defence procurement because I lived that life for a while,' he said. 'I bring a well-rounded skill set, not just I flew airplanes.' Fuhr might be out of the military but he can't stay out of the skies. Right up until he decided to run for office again, he was testing and certifying pilots on instrument ratings, ensuring they can fly by instruments alone. The retired air force major in his spare time flies a Vans RV8, an kit-built two-seater aircraft he purchased several years ago. The small, low-wing recreational craft is painted to look like a fighter jet - he even has a shark mouth painted on the nose of the plane. He may not have much time to get up in the air this summer. He'll be in and out of meetings with officials drafting up blueprints for the new procurement agency, sorting out its size and scope. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
2 hours ago
Trump branded, browbeat and prevailed. But his big bill may come at a political cost
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama had the Affordable Care Act. Joe Biden had the Inflation Reduction Act. President Donald Trump will have the tax cuts. All were hailed in the moment and became ripe political targets in campaigns that followed. In Trump's case, the tax cuts may almost become lost in the debates over other parts of the multitrillion-dollar bill that Democrats say will force poor Americans off their health care and overturn a decade or more of energy policy. Through persuasion and browbeating, Trump forced nearly all congressional Republicans to line up behind his marquee legislation despite some of its unpalatable pieces. He followed the playbook that had marked his life in business before politics. He focused on branding — labeling the legislation the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' — then relentlessly pushed to strong-arm it through Congress, solely on the votes of Republicans. But Trump's victory will soon be tested during the 2026 midterm elections where Democrats plan to run on a durable theme: that the Republican president favors the rich on tax cuts over poorer people who will lose their health care. Trump and Republicans argue that those who deserve coverage will retain it. Nonpartisan analysts, however, project significant increases to the number of uninsured. Meanwhile, the GOP's promise that the bill will turbocharge the economy will be tested at a time of uncertainty and trade turmoil. Trump has tried to counter the notion of favoring the rich with provisions that would reduce the taxes for people paid in tips and receiving overtime pay, two kinds of earners who represent a small share of the workforce. Extending the tax cuts from Trump's first term that were set to expire if Congress failed to act meant he could also argue that millions of people would avoid a tax increase. To enact that and other expensive priorities, Republicans made steep cuts to Medicaid that ultimately belied Trump's promise that those on government entitlement programs 'won't be affected.' 'The biggest thing is, he's answering the call of the forgotten people. That's why his No. 1 request was the no tax on tips, the no tax on overtime, tax relief for seniors,' said Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. 'I think that's going to be the big impact.' Presidents have seen their signature legislative accomplishments unraveled by their successors or become a significant political liability for their party in subsequent elections. A central case for Biden's reelection was that the public would reward the Democrat for his legislative accomplishments. That never bore fruit as he struggled to improve his poll numbers driven down by concerns about his age and stubborn inflation. Since taking office in January, Trump has acted to gut tax breaks meant to boost clean energy initiatives that were part of Biden's landmark health care-and-climate bill. Obama's health overhaul, which the Democrat signed into law in March 2010, led to a political bloodbath in the midterms that fall. Its popularity only became potent when Republicans tried to repeal it in 2017. Whatever political boost Trump may have gotten from his first-term tax cuts in 2017 did not help him in the 2018 midterms, when Democrats regained control of the House, or in 2020 when he lost to Biden. 'I don't think there's much if any evidence from recent or even not-so-recent history of the president's party passing a big one-party bill and getting rewarded for it,' said Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst with the nonpartisan University of Virginia's Center for Politics. Democrats hope they can translate their policy losses into political gains. During an Oval Office appearance in January, Trump pledged he would 'love and cherish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.' 'We're not going to do anything with that, other than if we can find some abuse or waste, we'll do something,' Trump said. 'But the people won't be affected. It will only be more effective and better.' That promise is far removed from what Trump and the Republican Party ultimately chose to do, paring back not only Medicaid but also food assistance for the poor to make the math work on their sweeping bill. It would force 11.8 million more people to become uninsured by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office, whose estimates the GOP has dismissed. 'In Trump's first term, Democrats in Congress prevented bad outcomes. They didn't repeal the (Affordable Care Act), and we did COVID relief together. This time is different,' said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. 'Hospitals will close, people will die, the cost of electricity will go up, and people will go without food.' Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., repeatedly argued the legislation would lead to drastic coverage losses in his home state and others, leaving them vulnerable to political attacks similar to what Democrats faced after they enacted 'Obamacare.' With his warnings unheeded, Tillis announced he would not run for reelection, after he opposed advancing the bill and enduring Trump's criticism. 'If there is a political dimension to this, it is the extraordinary impact that you're going to have in states like California, blue states with red districts,' Tillis said. "The narrative is going to be overwhelmingly negative in states like California, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey.' Even Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who eventually became the decisive vote in the Senate that ensured the bill's passage, said the legislation needed more work and she urged the House to revise it. Lawmakers there did not. Early polling suggests that Trump's bill is deeply unpopular, including among independents and a healthy share of Republicans. White House officials said their own research does not reflect that. So far, it's only Republicans celebrating the victory. That seems OK with the president. In a speech in Iowa after the bill passed, he said Democrats only opposed it because they 'hated Trump.' That didn't bother him, he said, 'because I hate them, too.'
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani shared ‘sick' video mocking Hannukah and ‘cosplaying Jews,' advocacy group charges
A Jewish advocacy group slammed Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for posting a 'sick' video mocking Hannukah and 'cosplaying Jews.' The mayoral front-runner shared a video on his X account last year from the Geeta Brothers Duet Group, showing two men wearing wigs dancing behind a menorah, playing with dreidels and celebrating with Punjabi-style music. 'Zohran Mamdani posts Indian men cosplaying Jews, spinning dreidels and lighting the menorah,' pro-Jewish group Stop Antisemitism wrote in a post to X Saturday, which included the controversial song. Advertisement 'Our holidays and traditions are sacred and not for your comedic pleasure _ZohranKMamdani — this is sick.' 4 The music video 'Hey Hanukkah' was shared by Zohran Mamdani last year during the solemn holiday. Zohran Kwame Mamdani, /X Advertisement Mamdani, 33, shared the campy song called 'Hey Hannukah' during last year's Festival of Lights. 'Happy 3rd night of Hanukkah from Astoria and Long Island City,' the Queens lawmaker wrote on X at the time. The video is from the 2015 parody album 'Punjabi Christmas Album Hits' from the Geeta Brothers — a side project of Sikh-Canadian musician and comedian Jus Reign. 4 The video from the Geeta Brothers showed men in wigs playing with dreidels, performing Punjabi music, and dancing behind a menorah. Zohran Kwame Mamdani, /X Advertisement Mamdani shared a similar video from the same comedy group on Christmas Eve 2024. 'Wishing you all a very merry Christmas from Astoria and Long Island City,' the self-described 'nepo-baby' wrote, sharing a video for the song 'Jingle Bells,' in which the performers wear similar wigs. The tone-deaf post is not the only reason Jewish New Yorkers are outraged over the rise of the socialist pol. 4 The video is from a 2015 parody holiday album that is the brainchild of Sikh-Canadian comedian Jus Reign. Zohran Kwame Mamdani, /X Advertisement Some Big Apple voters were gobsmacked when they received pro-Mamdani text messages that invoked the horrors of the October 7th attack in Israel. 'My friend Idan was murdered on October 7 at the Re'im music festival. The war is personal to me, as it is to many in our community,' a text shared with The Post read. 'The war is personal to me, as it is to many others in our community. Idan believed in peace, just like Zohran does,' the text read. It's unclear who sent them. 4 Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/Shutterstock The state assemblyman has previously come under fire for refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Earlier this week, the Bronx Science graduate, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, alienated Black New Yorkers when it was revealed that he claimed he was African American on his application to Columbia University.
