ALBANY – The Big Apple’s longest-serving top cop is warning of an “exodus” of New York Police Department cops if mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani takes city hall.
Speaking on “The Cats Roundtable” radio program on WABC 770 AM Sunday, Raymond Kelly, who served as police commissioner under Mayors Michael Bloomberg and David Dinkins, says that Mamdani seems to be tacking towards the center publicly.
But, he said, cops aren’t going to buy the act from the far-left Queens Assemblyman.
“He is a problem. He is antisemitic. He is someone who has a lot of crazy ideas,” Kelly told Cats, describing the NYPD as a “target” for Mamdani.
“They started leaving in big numbers at the beginning of Mayor Adams term as mayor and its continued. And of course, with a socialist mayor, I think there is a real challenge to keep the numbers of the police department where they should be,” Kelly said.
Mamdani has issued a half-baked word salad response despite calls for him to apologize for calling New York cops “racist” and a “threat to public safety” in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Kelly, an early advocate for Mayor Adams appointed Jessica Tisch as police commissioner, said Mamdani would be wise to keep her on.
“She’s doing a great job and I’d certainly like to see her stay in the department as a commissioner. But we don’t know what her relationship will be with a socialist mayor, a Muslim mayor. We just don’t know,” Kelly said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul revealed last week that she’s also pushing Mamdani to keep Tisch.
“I have highly recommended that he retain Jessica Tisch,” Hochul said.
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