Some progressive activists derided<\/a> that $225 million proposal as New York\u2019s \u201cCop City\u201d \u2013 inspired by the mass organizing<\/a> against a similar police training facility in Atlanta, Georgia. And that included Mamdani.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not need to spend more than $200 million on a \u2018Cop City\u2019 training facility in Queens,\u201d Mamdani said, unprompted, in a 2024 interview with City & State<\/a> ahead of the launch of his mayoral campaign. He reiterated<\/a> that throughout the campaign, saying<\/a> \u201cwe can put that money to better use.\u201d<\/p>\n Adams defended the plan last year, when Mamdani and his fellow mayoral contenders all said they\u2019d kill it \u2013 writing them off<\/a> as \u201c\u201cdefund-police, bail-reform candidates,\u201d as the New York Post reported.<\/p>\n But Mamdani has apparently followed through with his campaign promise. It\u2019s a rare example of Mamdani actually fulfilling a campaign pledge on public safety. The candidate who once called decarceration his \u201cfirst commitment\u201d has largely maintained Adams\u2019 criminal justice policies, after retaining his police commissioner. Arrests for low-level crimes<\/a> remain high, and the average daily jail population has hardly decreased in Mamdani\u2019s first year.<\/p>\n Even choosing the police academy as a basketball gym \u2013 when there are many other city-owned courts closer to the mayor\u2019s home \u2013 is a surprising move for a mayor who previously called to defund the NYPD and described the department as \u201cwicked & corrupt\u201d and \u201cracist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.\u201d Mamdani has distanced himself<\/a> from his previous comments and apologized, but some of his loyal allies,like leftist Jewish activist Rafael Shimunov, expressed a joking discomfort with the mayor\u2019s use of policing infrastructure. \u201cOne day, Gd willing, all police (facilities) will be basketball courts,\u201d he said on X<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n City Council Member Vickie Paladino, a far-right Republican whose district includes the police academy, criticized the move.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is disappointing but unsurprising, as the new academy expansion has been targeted by anti-cop activists aligned with Zohran’s DSA since its announcement. The mayor is committed to de-policing and decarceration, and this cancellation is just another part of the agenda,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cWe should be doing everything we can to recruit good new cops and give experienced officers reason to stay by investing in them. Instead the mayor is doing the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NYPD_Police_Academy_021825_2.jpg\")
\nThen-Mayor Eric Adams speaks at the police academy gym, where Mamdani has reportedly been playing pickup games. \/ Jeff Coltin<\/p>\n