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NYPD Cops: ‘I Will Quit If Zohran Is Elected’
“Who will even want this job anymore?” a lieutenant asked me. (All photos by Ava Pellor for The Free Press)
Morale is sagging, the number of officers is shrinking, and the candidate who once said ‘defund the NYPD’ now wants to slash their overtime.
By Olivia Reingold
10.08.25 — New York
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A lieutenant with 19 years on the job remembers hearing nervous laughter when he walked into his New York Police Department command post the morning after Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic mayoral nomination in June.

“Everyone was like, ‘Get ready to retire,’ ” he told me. “It was definitely like the sky was falling.”

The lieutenant said that he always th…

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Olivia Reingold
Olivia Reingold is a staff writer at The Free Press. She co-created and executive produced Matthew Yglesias’s podcast, Bad Takes. She got her start in public radio, regularly appearing on NPR for her reporting on indigenous communities in Montana. She previously produced podcasts at Politico, where she shaped conversations with world leaders like Jens Stoltenberg.
Tags:
Police
New York City Mayoral Race
Zohran Mamdani
Crime
Democrats
New York City
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