By Luke Peteley
Staten Island Advance, N.Y.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island officials are sounding the alarm after Mayor Zohran Mamdani moved to scrap plans for hiring 5,000 additional NYPD officers — a reversal that critics in the borough say will leave an already understaffed force stretched even thinner.
According to the mayor’s newly released Financial Plan Detail for 2026–2030, the administration plans on “discontinuing the phased hiring of 5,000 additional police officers,” halting a buildup approved under former Mayor Eric Adams. Adams plan, introduced in October of 2025, called for boosting the NYPD to 40,000 uniformed officers by FY 2029, the highest headcount in two decades.
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The planned expansion was set to begin in July 2026, with 300 additional officers, scaling up to 2,500 in 2027 and reaching 5,000 annually by 2028. With Mamdani’s reversal, the NYPD’s uniformed ranks are instead expected to hover just under 35,000.
Under the February 2026 Financial Plan, the department is expected to receive around $6.4 billion in funding for FY 2026. The baseline per the November 2025 Plan for FY 2026 was about $5.98 billion.
News of the move comes amid a $5.4 billion budget gap which Mamdani says needs to be filled one of two ways: either increase personal income taxes on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million annually and increase taxes on the most profitable corporations or raise the property tax rate by about 9.5%.
Mamdani calls the latter option a “last resort,” but noted that it is the only lever that the city can pull should Albany fail to take action on tax reform.
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In addition to tax increases, the city will also need to withdraw $980 million from the “Rainy Day Fund” in Fiscal Year 2026 and $229 million from the Retiree Health Benefits Trust in Fiscal Year 2027 in order to legally balance its budget.
Pushback from Staten Island officials
Staten Island members of the City Council and the district attorney were not thrilled with the news that plans for additional officers have been scrapped.
“As Staten Island’s chief law enforcement officer, I understand the inherent difficult decisions that come with managing financials and staff, however, a balanced budget should never come at the expense of public safety,” District Attorney Michael E. McMahon told the Advance/SILive.com in a statement. “Mayor Mamdani’s decision to reverse the hiring of 5,000 additional NYPD officers does nothing to enhance public safety. Simply put, less cops on the beat means more dangerous criminals on our streets.”
“At a time when Staten Island has 87 less officers compared to last year — over a 12% decrease and less NYPD officers patrolling our shores now than we did nearly 60 years ago when our borough’s population was half the size it is today, this is the wrong decision at the wrong time,” he added. “For decades, the great men and women of the NYPD have been asked to do more with less, and I strongly urge Mayor Mamdani to reverse this foolhardy proposal which will only make our beloved borough and New York City less safe.”
City Council Minority Leader David Carr, a Republican who represents the Mid-Island, also provided a statement on the matter and said the following:
“The NYPD is already stretched thin, with headcount at its lowest level in decades. To deprive the department of 5,000 desperately needed additional officers and deprive the public of these vital public safety resources is reckless, and quite frankly, completely unnecessary when it has already been budgeted.”
City Councilmember Kamillah Hanks, a Democrat who represents the North Shore, also chimed in on the subject.
“Public safety is the backbone of a thriving city,” she said. “Adding 5,000 police officers not only makes our communities safer, it strengthens neighborhood stability, supports small businesses, and ensures families feel protected in their daily lives. Any decision that reverses or delays efforts to adequately staff the NYPD must be carefully evaluated. We cannot ignore the real concerns residents continue to raise about response times, quality of life issues, and visible safety presence in our neighborhoods. Public safety is not a political talking point; it is a fundamental responsibility. I remain committed to ensuring Staten Islanders and all New Yorkers have the protection and resources they deserve.”
Councilmember Frank Morano, a Republican who represents the South Shore, criticized what he called a “dangerous mistake.”
“My constituents overwhelmingly support the NYPD . They understand that a strong police presence deters crime, protects families, and keeps neighborhoods stable,” he said. “Cancelling the hiring of 5,000 additional officers moves us in the wrong direction.”
“Just weeks ago, we were told the city faced a $12 billion budget gap. Now we are told it is closer to $5 billion. That kind of dramatic swing raises legitimate questions,” added Morano. “It suggests that these decisions may not be driven purely by fiscal necessity, but potentially by an ideological desire to shrink the police force and raise taxes on certain groups.”
The councilmember offered alternatives to reducing police staffing, including eliminating waste, improving efficiency and controlling “the growth of government.”
He also said that he will advocate for policies “that strengthen public safety, support our police officers, and ensure that New York City remains a safe place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Mamdani’s comments on NYPD staffing
At a press conference on Thursday (Feb. 19), Mamdani was asked by a reporter for his response to criticism of the cut as well as how he plans to encourage individuals to work as police officers in New York City.
“We’ve seen an issue with retention in our department over the last few years and I have said time and again that for too long, the city has added additional responsibilities onto the NYPD,” the mayor said. “We see, at this point, the NYPD responsible for responding to about 200,000 mental health calls a year, and part of our vision in establishing a Department of Community Safety is to start to take that responsibility of mental health crises and task mental health responders with that work, and to ensure that police can focus on the work that they signed up to focus on, which is tackling violent crime across the city.”
“And I’m also appreciative of the work that’s already been done by my police commissioner within the department of starting to bridge that gap,” he added. “We’re seeing larger and larger classes also being hired toward that end.”
Mamdani also spoke on forced overtime and said the following:
“I think it’s an absolutely critical part of this, and I think too much of that forced overtime has also come from a result of the ever expanding number of responsibilities we’ve given to those officers.”
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