By Jared Evan

A New York City led by pro-Hamas extreme socialist mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani would trigger a two-pronged collapse in public safety — crime spiraling upward and police officers fleeing the force — NYPD veterans and public safety experts warned this week, the NY Post reported.

Despite Mamdani’s sudden about-face, vowing in the final stretch of the Democratic primary that he wouldn’t “defund the police,” critics say the candidate’s record tells a different story. Many inside law enforcement view the pivot as a last-minute stunt to court undecided voters, the NY Post reported.

“The city would be totally unsafe for people who live here,” said Scott Munro, president of the NYPD Detectives’ Endowment Association. “If you put a guy like him in there, our people are going to get hurt, and nobody’s going to want the job,” Munro told the NY Post.

Adding to the controversy, former radical leftist  Mayor Bill de Blasio emerged as one of Mamdani’s most prominent defenders, despite his own legacy of friction with the NYPD. De Blasio — long criticized by rank-and-file cops for undercutting morale and enabling anti-police sentiment — claimed Mamdani is being unfairly “demonized,” the NY Post reported.

“He understands how important public safety is,” de Blasio said. “It’s not going to help him achieve his economic agenda if the city isn’t safe,” de Blasio told the NY Post.

But many officers see parallels between Mamdani and the de Blasio era — a time marked by mass retirements, plummeting morale, and clashes over protests and reforms. Police unions repeatedly blasted de Blasio for what they saw as his appeasement of anti-cop activists. Under Mamdani, they fear history will repeat — or worsen.

One longtime NYPD officer, preparing for retirement, said Mamdani’s rhetoric reflects deep hostility toward the police.

“He thinks the entire NYPD is racist,” the veteran said. “I don’t think this guy has even stepped foot in a precinct. He’s just going off a narrative that if you hate cops, you’re going to get elected,” he told the NY Post.

Mamdani, 33, has long supported cutting NYPD funding and replacing police responsibilities with social workers and violence interrupters. His platform includes the creation of a new Department of Community Safety, separate from the NYPD, to handle 911 calls — especially in the subways, the NY Post reported.

“He wants to neuter the police department,” said Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. “He has this idea that policing should be done by Gandhi-style social workers. That does not work,” Sliwa told the NY Post.

Under current Mayor Eric Adams — a former NYPD captain himself — major crime is down slightly. But NYPD insiders say Mamdani’s ascension could reverse that trend overnight.

“I’ve had guys call me and say ‘If he wins, I’m quitting,’” a police source said. “It’s just weird that New York City would vote for him. He’s not here for the police,” the source told the NY Post.

Veteran strategist Hank Sheinkopf also poured cold water on Mamdani’s pivot away from defund language.

“His supporters say he’ll defund the police,” Sheinkopf said. “That’s who he is. If this guy gets in power, we’re gonna lose a lot of cops,” Sheinkopf told the NY Post.

Yet de Blasio doubled down.

“He has a chance to lead on public health,” the altitudinous Marxist former mayor argued. “Police don’t need to be involved in every mental health call,” de Blasio told the NY Post.

But as one detective put it bluntly: “You have police protecting you, but you don’t want to protect the people of New York City?”

The NY Post reported that Mamdani did not return requests for comment.