Former NYPD chief calls police cuts 'recipe for disaster' as Mamdani threatens tax hikes

20 Feb 2026 By foxnews

Former New York City Police Department (NYPD) Chief John Chell blasted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for walking back the planned hiring of 5,000 more police officers amid a city budget shortfall of billions of dollars, calling it a "recipe for disaster."

Mamdani's predecessor, Mayor Eric Adams, proposed at the end of his term that the city hire 5,000 more NYPD officers.

Upon entering office, Mamdani moved to cancel all orders signed by Adams after his Sept. 26, 2024, indictment, including the proposed NYPD personnel increase.

MAMDANI SIGNALS DISBANDING NYPD PROTEST UNIT, CALLS FOR HIGHER TAXES ON TOP 1% AMID BUDGET RECKONING

Under Adams' plan, the NYPD would gradually hire more officers over the coming years, ultimately allowing the NYPD to deploy around 40,000 officers to the streets, while Mamdani's plan caps the number closer to its current level of around 35,000.

"We need about 40,000 [officers], and we're roughly close to 34,000. So, cutting back 5,000, we're probably going to lose another close to 4,000 like last year," Chell said Thursday on "Fox & Friends."

"Recipe for disaster. Public safety is the key to New York City."

Mamdani has also faced backlash for threatening a nearly 10% property tax increase that could affect millions of residents if Albany does not agree to raise income taxes on the city's wealthiest.

Detractors say the move could squeeze middle-class homeowners - many of whom voted for Mamdani - by triggering rent hikes as landlords pass along the cost to tenants.

MAMDANI PROPOSES CUTTING NYPD BUDGET, CANCELING 5K NEW OFFICER HIRES

When Mamdani unveiled his administration's fiscal year 2027 preliminary budget on Tuesday, he laid out two paths available to the city to balance its budget in light of a $12 billion funding gap identified by his team that was whittled down to $5.4 billion after projected savings, revenue and state aid.

The first path involves working with Albany to increase personal income taxes on the 33,000 New Yorkers earning more than $1 million per year and raising corporate taxes on the city's most profitable corporations, Mamdani said.

The second option involves a 9.5% property tax hike that the mayor estimates would affect more than 3 million residential units and more than 100,000 commercial buildings. It would also require drawing $980 million from the city's Rainy Day Fund and $229 million from the Retiree Health Benefits Trust.

"So, you're gonna raise my taxes 10%, and you're going to reduce my public safety for my city. That's very appetizing for me to stay in New York City, isn't it?" Chell said.

"We can't pay for everything. Everything can't be for free. But what you need is cops out in the street. Tell me how all these programs are gonna help when you're getting robbed in the middle of the street?"

Fox News Digital's Amanda Macias and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.