NYC Mayor-elect Mayor Zohran Mamdani claimed on the campaign trail he no longer wants to “defund the police,” but a lefty political strategist he tapped to oversee his transition team is an impassioned supporter of the anti-cop movement.

Elena Leopold, executive director of an all-female transition team, was among the more than 230 past and present staffers of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio who signed an June 2020 “open letter” to de Blasio demanding “radical change” on criminal justice policies – especially at the NYPD.

“We are demanding the mayor act immediately to … reduce the NYPD operating budget by $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2021, and reallocate that money to essential social services, including housing support and rental relief, food assistance and health care,” wrote Leopold, a former senior advisor and campaign strategist for de Blasio, and the others.

Leopold, who founded multiple political consulting firms with deep ties to lefty politicians since leaving City Hall, joined Mamdani’s campaign as a chief advisor in June after he won the Democratic mayoral primary.

The letter — posted June 3, 2020 during the height on the Black Lives Matter protests — also demanded the city immediately fire and release names of cops who used “excessive force” or covered their badge IDs during protests.

NYC Mayor-elect Mayor Zohran Mamdani (left) claimed on the campaign trail he no longer wants to “defund the police,” but Elena Leopold (right), the lefty political strategist he tapped to oversee his transition team is an impassioned supporter of the anti-cop movement. REUTERS

It also called for creating a commission of “civil rights attorneys, journalists and activists, including abolition organizers,” to investigate the Mayor’s Office and NYPD’s response to BLM riots that raged in NYC over the previous month.

We are demanding radical change from the Mayor, who is on the brink of losing all legitimacy in the eyes of New Yorkers,” the letter said.

De Blasio initially refused to slash the NYPD budget after “defund the police” became a rallying cry nationwide following the police-custody death of George Floyd in Minnesota. 

However, he ultimately caved to the demands of activists and progressive Council members by signing off on a new city budget that, while not reducing the size of the police workforce, shifted nearly $1 billion from cops to social and youth services — despite the Big Apple in 2020 seeing a 41% hike in killings.

Mamdani speaks in front of the iconic Queens Unisphere Wednesday alongside his transition team. AP

Mamdani, then campaigning for his current Queens assembly seat, wasn’t satisfied and accused the mayor and Council of using “budget tricks to keep as many cops as possible on the beat.”

“We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD,” he posted on X on June 28, 2020.

But in July Mamdani backed off the controversial stance in the wake of a Midtown mass shooting that left four dead, including an NYPD officer, while he was celebrating his recent nuptials in his native Uganda.

Leopold (right) in 2015 leaving the state Capitol with then-NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. Hans Pennink

“I am not running to defund the police,” insisted Mamdani, hours after visiting slain cop Didarul Islam’s grieving relatives.

Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola said Mamdani’s decision to appoint Leopold to the transition team shows he hasn’t completely abandoned the idea of slashing NYPD spending.

“Am I surprised? Not one bit,” said the Queens Republican. “What Mr. Mamdani says when he’s pandering to a crowd, and what he actually hopes to do, I believe, are very different things.

Leopold was one of 236 past and present de Blasio staffers who wrote an “open letter” to the then-mayor demanding he “defund” $1 billion from the NYPD. REUTERS

“We’ve seen him make statements that go from progressive to moderate to almost conservative, depending on who he’s talking to. … Well, we see who his friends are, and they’re the same people who want to dismantle public safety in this city.”

Councilman Frank Morano (R-Staten Island) said he’s “ready to work with the mayor-elect’s team” but is “concerned about the direction this signals for policing.”

Leopold will oversee a transition team with deep ties to City Hall: former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and city budget expert Melanie Hartzog, along with ex-Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and nonprofit president Grace Bonilla.

Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec declined to comment.