NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke at the Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem on Sunday and unveiled his plan to hire 5,000 more NYPD officers if elected New York City mayor, stating that the “city is in crisis” and in need of a public safety-forward administration.
An additional 5,000 officers would jump the NYPD’s ranks 15%, bringing its total size near an all-time high of about 39,000, Cuomo said.
The former governor plans to reverse “years of decline” in the department’s roster and use the additional forces to increase policing around what he called “urban crime zones,” like the Eighth Avenue corridor between Penn Station and Times Square and the Roosevelt Avenue stretch in Queens.
“The number one issue is public safety because nothing works if people don’t feel safe,” Cuomo said.
His plan will offset the financial stress of hiring thousands more officers by reducing NYPD overtime costs, which reportedly surpassed $1 billion in 2024. According to Cuomo, the move will also help with officer retention.
“Police are getting burned out. Police are quitting. One of the highest attrition rates ever. And we can’t even attract new people to be police officers. Now who had it, right? Mayor David Dinkins,” Cuomo said, citing the former mayor’s Safe Streets/Safe City initiative in the early 1990s that brought the police force to nearly 38,500.
Cuomo said that Dinkins, the city’s first Black mayor, increased the police force 40% during his time running the city “because he understood who the victims of crime are and who we need to protect,” and slammed unnamed mayoral candidates he said are against police funding.
“We have city officials, many of whom now want to be mayor of New York, who uttered the three dumbest public policy words you can utter: ‘Cut the police,’” Cuomo said. “You can't be a progressive if you're not making progress and they are not making progress. As a matter of fact, it was regressive. Do you know who the victims of crime are? Seventy-five percent Black, brown and poor. That’s the population that needs the police.”
According to recent polls, Cuomo is the frontrunner in a crowded Democratic primary and is looking to unseat embattled Mayor Eric Adams. The field also includes former Comptroller Scott Stringer, Comptroller Brad Lander and NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.