Crime and public safety are among the key campaign issues fueling the 2025 New York City mayor’s race.

Democrat Zohran Mamdani, independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa have all made promises to reduce crime and make the city safer, if elected. One thing they all agree on: keeping Jessica Tisch in charge of the NYPD. 

Here are some of the candidates’ key campaign promises. 

The list below appears according to how the candidates rank in the latest polling. 

Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani (D)

Mamdani’s public safety platform centers around the creation of a Department of Community Safety, which his campaign website says would be tasked “to prevent violence before it happens by prioritizing solutions which have been consistently shown to improve safety.” 

Mamdani said he believes the current size of the NYPD is appropriate, and is not proposing increasing the number of officers. He says he would change existing officers’ responsibilities. He would have police officers prioritize the response to violent crimes and the like, while a new workforce of social workers and counselors comprising his Department of Community Safety would take on certain calls involving emotionally disturbed individuals. 

“Our vision for a Department of Community Safety, the DCS, is that we would have teams of dedicated mental health outreach workers that we deploy to the hundred [subway] stations with the highest levels of mental health crises, to respond to those incidents and get those New Yorkers out of the subway system and to the services that they actually need,” Mamdani said in a September interview on CBS News New York’s “The Point with Marcia Kramer.”

US-POLITICS-VOTE-NEWYORK-MAMDANI

New York Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani answers questions from the press after hosting a “Reverse Town Hall” with New York union workers on October 17, 2025.

ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

The campaign says relying on NYPD officers to address “failures of our social safety net,” like homelessness and the mental health crisis, prevents them from doing their jobs effectively. Mamdani said DCS would ease pressure on officers and let them stay focused on what they signed up to do.

DCS would also be tasked with funding hate crime and gun violence prevention programs, according to Mamdani’s campaign.

Kramer asked Mamdani at the time about his previous social media posts about the police department, and he said he had changed his views and they were no longer in line with his campaign. 

Another clip resurfaced this week from a 2023 panel for Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), in which he appears to criticize the NYPD and Israel Defense Forces.

A spokesperson for his campaign said, “Zohran’s position on the NYPD has evolved, he’s looking forward to retaining Jessica Tisch as police commissioner, and delivering genuine public safety.”

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (I)

Cuomo’s central public safety plan is to hire 5,000 new police officers. His campaign says that would bring the size of the force back to what it was 25 years ago.

According to Cuomo’s campaign website, his crime-fighting platform has five main points:

Increase the size of the NYPDOffer bonuses and incentives to active and recently retired officersDeploy police officers based on data-driven strategiesCrack down on nuisance and quality of life crimes (retail theft, fencing operations and repeat offenders)Increase accountability for e-bike and moped violations

“The poor people on Citi Bikes, those Citi Bikes can only go about 18 mph. They have e-bikes that are doing 30-35 mph going past them. So we need rules enforced. You can’t be on the sidewalk and on the street and going against traffic,” Cuomo said in a June interview on “The Point.” 

New York City has since implemented a 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes and e-scooters.

New York City Mayoral Candidates Face Off In Debate

Independent mayoral nominee, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a mayoral debate at Rockefeller Center on October 16, 2025.

Angelina Katsanis-Pool / Getty Images

Subway safety would be a particular focus of the NYPD and MTA Police under Cuomo’s administration. The former governor says he would “add substantially more officers to NYPD Transit,” while reducing mandatory overtime.

He’s also promising to upgrade station turnstiles to stop fare evaders and to work with local district attorneys to address vandalism, drug use and disorderly conduct on trains. 

Cuomo has also campaigned on getting homeless people out of the subway system through mental health partnerships, shelters and other services. 

Curtis Sliwa (R)

Sliwa’s public safety platform calls for a robust expansion of the NYPD, including hiring 7,000 new officers, reinstating the Anti-Crime Unit — which was disbanded under former Mayor Bill de Blasio — expanding the Gang Unit, and improving department benefits to boost recruitment, reward tenure and lift officer retention rates. 

In a July interview on “The Point,” Sliwa said reducing crime is his top priority.

“You’ve got to have law and order, because you could cut people’s taxes, you could make it more corporate friendly, and they’re not gonna stay,” he said.

NYC Mayoral Candidate Curtis Sliwa Holds Campaign Rally At New York's City Hall

Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor of New York City, speaks at a press event at City Hall on September 30, 2025.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Sliwa pledges to use department resources to improve strategies targeting “illegal firearm carriers, repeat offenders, and violent criminals before crimes occur,” according to his campaign’s website. He would also make changes to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates police misconduct, by requiring members go on ride-alongs and adding members with law enforcement backgrounds.   

On subways, Sliwa would deploy more NYPD transit officers and “aggressively” enforce fare evasion laws. He also wants to reinstate the NYPD Homeless Outreach Unit and pair its officers with licensed mental health professionals.    

He is also promising to repeal or reform laws the campaign says “inhibit effective policing,” including:

The Diaphragm Law, which prohibits officers from putting pressure on a person’s stomach or back during an arrest.The punitive segregation ban, which limits solitary confinement in city jails.The How Many Stops Act, which says officers must document every encounter they have.

New Yorkers have just days left to cast their ballots during early voting, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Marcia Kramer and

Ali Bauman

contributed to this report.