New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a proposed 2027 budget that includes significant cuts to the New York Police Department while canceling plans to hire thousands of additional officers. The move reverses a hiring program initiated under former Mayor Eric Adams, which called for adding 5,000 officers by 2028.

Under Adams’ plan, the NYPD would have grown to approximately 40,000 officers on the streets, with incremental hires starting at 300 in July 2026 and expanding to 5,000 annually by 2028. Mamdani’s proposal caps the department at roughly its current staffing level of 35,000, while also seeking to reduce the NYPD budget by about $22 million.

Mamdani framed the changes as part of a broader effort to address a multibillion-dollar budget gap, emphasizing that New York City may need to raise property taxes if state lawmakers do not impose new levies on wealthy residents or corporations. He described raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers and profitable corporations as the “most sustainable and fairest path” to closing the deficit.

The mayor’s approach diverges from his predecessor’s, aligning with his democratic socialist priorities while signaling potential conflicts with Governor Kathy Hochul, who would have to approve any new income taxes and has opposed such measures.

Mamdani said the city could also be forced to consider less favorable options, including raising property taxes and using city reserves, if state-level action does not materialize. “Faced with no other choice, the city would have to exercise the only revenue lever fully within our own control,” he stated, underscoring the fiscal pressures driving his NYPD and tax proposals.