Zohran Mamdani’s sudden 180-degree turn on defunding the police, from supporting the foolish concept to opposing it, coincides with his political necessity and rank opportunism as he tries to be elected mayor.
At least the old anti-cop Mamdani was consistent, if wrong. And it’s not the only area where the Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner for November has shed his past, just like Mamdani now says he’ll discourage use of “Globalize the Intifada,” a change of heart he came to after he talked to a woman about what the phase meant to her. That’s good, if it’s to be believed.
Likewise, Mamdani told of his new stand on cops after meeting with the family of the police officer slain on Park Ave., Detective First Grade Didarul Islam. That’s good, if it’s to be believed.
We’re not buying it. Mamdani is trying to redefine himself to appeal to a wider audience in the general election and spinning it as if he all of a sudden learned something new from these conversations.
New Yorkers should also be more than skeptical. Part of Mamdani’s appeal to those who voted for the democratic socialist in June beyond the folks who were sold on his pledges of free buses and free child care and rent freezes was his authenticity. In the primary he stood for clear, long-held principles.
We thought that he’s someone who harbored dangerous views on public safety and Israel and unworkable solutions on the city’s budget and urged Democratic voters not to choose him. But now he’s someone who is trying to cover up his dangerous and unworkable views. With the old Mamdani you knew what you were getting.
How many more conversions will Mamdani have over the next few months that will produce conversions of his stands? And should he prevail over a splintered field of Eric Adams, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa this fall and win, who will be the man who becomes mayor on Jan. 1? Which Mamdani will be taking over at City Hall?
“Defund the police” was a popular slogan five years ago in many quarters in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and Mamdani was right there in the middle. Now, with crime a major concern of New Yorkers (and thankfully the NYPD is successfully driving down the numbers), support for the cops is seen as a political plus and Mamdani is saying he is supposedly backtracking, offering up a version of “different time, different place.” But he is not a different person.
Mamdani still wants to create a proposed Department of Community Safety, which would hollow out the ranks and budget of the NYPD by setting up a rival agency. To us, that still sounds like a version of “defund the police.”
As for “Globalize the Intifada,” which to many (including not a few Mamdani supporters) means murderous attacks on Jews everywhere, a global pogrom, Mamdani will encourage people to use other words, perhaps “From the River to the Sea,” calling for the eradication of the Jewish state. Is a list of phrases about the Mideast now going to be needed for the potential mayor to weigh in on?
Clearly, his deep-set animosity to the existence of the state of Israel, including backing the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, isn’t changing. Promising more cops to protect New York Jews from being attacked is a poor substitute when the mayor is ratcheting up the rhetoric and the hate.
There are three months to go until Election Day. How else will the new Mamdani attempt to distance himself from the old Mamdani?
