Mayor Mamdani defends hiring more cops on WNYC’s 'Ask The Mayor'

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday defended his plan to hire 580 additional officers and boost the overall NYPD headcount during his first appearance on WNYC’s “Ask The Mayor” on The Brian Lehrer Show.”

Mamdani said that once he came into office he was told that the Bronx needed two patrol boroughs because of its size and that rookie officers needed more on-the-job training.

“Because of these two issues, we saw a slight increase in the budgeted headcount,” he said.

The decision to grow the police force was an unexpected reversal of a campaign promise. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, said while running for mayor that he wanted to keep the headcount of officers flat at roughly 35,000.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced that she had secured the additional budgeting for new hires during a City Council hearing on Monday.

Tuesday marked the mayor’s first appearance on the popular “Ask The Mayor” segment, where listeners can ask the mayor questions directly. He has agreed to join Lehrer on a quarterly basis.

Callers grilled the mayor on decisions ranging from pay for childcare providers, healthcare for city retirees, and the regulation of e-bikes.

Asked by one caller about the city’s decision to move forward with the Queensway project, which would redevelop old railroad tracks into 5 acres of parkland, Mamdani said the move did not mean a new subway on the tracks is off the table. Transit advocates have long pressed for a new subway, known as Queenslink, along the park.

“We’re moving forward with Queensway in a way that does not preclude future rail activation,” he said.

But the caller was not satisfied.

“It still feels like you're prioritizing a park over being able to get to work, get to school,” the caller told Mamdani. “You say that you are mostly supporting public transport, but you know this is kind of like a contradiction.”

“You say one thing, but then you're doing another within your policy,” the caller added.

Mamdani emphasized that a new rail project would cost vast sums of money and require “interest” from state government.