NYC Council blames Bronx crime spike on Mamdani scrapping 600 new cops

City Council members grilled NYPD brass Wednesday over crime increases in parts of the Bronx — with some blaming Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s decision to scrap a planned 580-officer expansion for the spike.Mamdani had proposed raising NYPD’s headcount by 580 officers, with the officers slated to support parts of the Bronx and police training needs, but the positions were cut from the final city budget.Bronx Councilman Oswald Feliz, chair of the Public Safety Committee, pressed officials on the borough’s crime numbers during a hearing on NYPD crime statistics.“Forty percent of the murders the city has seen this year have been in the Bronx.About 40% of the shooting victims the city has seen this year, also in the Bronx,” Feliz said.

“It seems like we need more police in the Bronx based on numbers.”Queens Republican Councilwoman Joann Ariola argued the city should have kept the proposed hires.“It makes sense that if we have those extra 580 cops, we would have 580 cops on the street and less crime,” Ariola said.The NYPD has 2,830 officers assigned to Manhattan, 2,620 in the Bronx, 3,513 in Brooklyn, 2,285 in Queens and 543 on Staten Island, according to Inspector William Haut, commanding officer of NYPD’s Office of Crime Control Strategies.Haut testified on behalf of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters Michael Gerber would not confirm the additional cops would have gone to the Bronx as reported by Spectrum News, but when asked whether more officers would help, he said NYPD would like more. “Between more police officers and fewer police officers, of course we’re going to want more,” Gerber said.“But we understand we have budgetary constraints, and we feel with the cops we have, we’re having tremendous success fighting crime,” he added.Haut pointed out citywide major crime fell 6% through August, with murders dropping 24%, shooting incidents falling 9% and shooting victims declining nearly 12%.He cred...