Mamdani's past 'visceral disdain' for police 'scares a lot of New Yorkers' for good reason: NYC crime expert

‘Erode public safety’: Expert outlines what Mamdani’s policies will mean for NYC

Fox News Digital spoke to Manhattan Institute scholar Rafael A. Mangual about NYC socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s record on crime

New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's past stances on policing are a legitimate reason for New Yorkers to be concerned, despite his recent walkbacks, according to a New York City crime expert who spoke to Fox News Digital. 

"I think what scares a lot of New Yorkers about the policy positions taken by Zohran Mamdani over the years is that he has exhibited not just a lack of appreciation for the men and women that stand on that [police] line, but a visceral disdain for them, which has led him to push for things like defunding and dismantling the police," Rafael A. Mangual, senior fellow and head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital, shortly after a gunman killed four people in midtown Manhattan, including a NYPD police officer. 

"It's not so much as just that he said, well, I wanna allocate some of this money to other places. He has gone so far as to say that we should dismantle the entire department."

Mamdani recently attempted to walk back some of his past anti-police comments during a press conference in the aftermath of the shooting, but Mangual, who wrote an op-ed on the walkback for the New York Post, says he still has concerns despite the attempt to clarify past comments.

MAMDANI PREACHES FROM PULPIT OF RADICAL PASTOR PUSHING REPARATIONS, ABOLISHING POLICE: 'BROTHER AND FRIEND'

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks in the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate at NBC Studios on June 4, 2025, in New York City. Nine candidates are taking the stage for the first debate of the primary election for mayor.  (Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Getty Images)

"Even if he doesn't necessarily follow through on the most radical positions that he has taken in the very recent past, he has expressed support for a lot of initiatives that would erode public safety in lots of different ways, including and especially in the communities that deal with the brunt of our nation's gun violence problem," Mangual said. 

Mangual pointed to several possible scenarios under a Mamdani mayorship that could lead to problems for security in the city, including potentially working with the city council to eliminate the NYPD gang database, which Mangual said would be an "absolute disaster" for the city.

NEW YORK LAWMAKER SOUNDS ALARM ON POTENTIAL 'DEVASTATING' EFFECTS OF MAMDANI VICTORY: 'CHAOS'

Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, speaks at an endorsement event from the union DC 37 on July 15, 2025, in New York City.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

"The other thing that Mamdani mayoralty might get us is an NYPD that's even less equipped than the current NYPD, which is certainly operating well below the ideal level in terms of force size," Mangual explained. 

"It's approaching skeleton crew status. The NYPD at the turn of the century had about 41,000 officers in its ranks, whereas now I think below 33,000 are just right around that mark. That's a really big change, especially given how many more 911 calls that department is fielding on an annual basis and how much more it has to do in a post-9/11 world where the department kind of took on these additional counter-terrorism and intelligence aspects to it. So, you run the risk of creating a situation in which a department that is already starved for recruits is going to become even more unattractive to people who are considering work in that department."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Zohran Mamdani, New York City Mayoral Candidate speaks to the media at 32BJ SEIU headquarters following a mass shooting in Manhattan that took the lives of an New York Police Department (NYPD) police officer and others in Manhattan, New York. (Getty)

Mangual explained that Mamdani was part of a "legislative landscape" as a state assemblyman that pushed bail reform and discovery reform that "have essentially made it significantly less likely that perpetrators who are arrested will be, A, prosecuted and B, held to account in a meaningful way."

Mangual said he is concerned that Mamdani's resume will hurt police recruiting and eventually make the city less safe as the NYPD struggles to achieve full staffing.

"So, now you have a situation in which you might have a mayor who has just set himself up for a terrible relationship with the police department who is signaling that he's going to cooperate with an increasingly radical city council who wants to take even more away from that police department, who is then going to send a signal that, ‘Hey, you are not going to have a good time working here,’" Mangual said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].