Mayor Mamdani, a vocal and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America, drew a sharp line Thursday between his views and the party’s platform on the contentious issue of public safety and policing.
“Especially when it comes to public safety, I’ve been very clear that we have our police force, we have prisons, we have jails. The purpose of these is also to ensure that we are delivering safety and justice hand in hand,” Mamdani told host Clay Cane at a SiriusXM taping on Thursday.
Public safety has been somewhat of a sore spot for the 34-year-old mayor, who faced criticism from both the left and right on the matter.
“I am proud of our police department for their work in delivering the lowest levels of murders and shootings, even the number of shooting victims in recorded history over seven months over this year, and I also want to ensure that this is a city where New Yorkers know that that is not coming at the expense of justice.”
The official DSA platform calls for the defunding of police and freedom for “all incarcerated people.”
Earlier this week, the NYPD touted new crime stats revealing that the city has seen the fewest shootings, shooting victims and murders in the city’s recorded history for both the year-to-date and the month of July.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani briefs the media regarding security for the Israel Day Parade with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at 1 Police Plaza in Manhattan on Thursday, May 28, 2026. (Ed Reed / Mayoral Photography Office)
On the campaign trail, Mamdani received a torrent of criticism over his past calls for defunding the NYPD and pledges to transform the city’s public safety apparatus. Detractors said that, if Mamdani won, he would push to cut back on the police force in favor of alternative safety ideas like his proposed Department of Community Safety.
But in his first months in office, Mamdani has done little to change how the NYPD operatesl. He kept on Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who was first appointed to the role under ex-Mayor Adams, and has not made progress of several of his key policing campaign promises, like pledges to ban the gang database and disband the controversial Strategic Response Unit.
In walking this thin line, Mamdani has received criticism from all different sides.
On Tuesday, Mamdani made a series of appearances at “National Night Out” events across the city — including on Staten Island, where he was heavily booed by some attendees.
And in June, the mayor caught flak from his base after he proposed adding 580 officers to the NYPD’s headcount. NYC-DSA called the move — which Mamdani ultimately walked back — as “counter to the values of the socialist and working-class movement that elected him.”
New York City Councilwoman Tiffany Cuban speaks during a press conference urging Mayor Mamdani to reject a planned increase in headcount at the NYPD outside New York City Hall Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News/Pool)
DSA reps did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the mayor’s Thursday remarks.
“If you have two socialists in a room, there has to be at least one disagreement,” Mamdani said Thursday. The interview airs Friday.