Just eight days into his tenure, Mayor Zohran Mamdani finds himself in hot water over a sluggish response to two deadly police-involved shootings that rocked New York City on a single Thursday.
This fledgling mayor, who once championed a "defund the police" stance only to soften it during his campaign, seems to have stumbled out of the gate with a response described by many as halfhearted at best.
Caught between rising tensions with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and sharp criticism from police sources, Mamdani's 16-hour delay in addressing the violent incidents—despite immediate briefings from Tisch—has ignited a firestorm of frustration among City Hall insiders and law enforcement.
The first incident unfolded just before 5:30 p.m. Thursday at New York Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where a bloodied individual, later identified as 62-year-old Michael Lynch—a former NYPD officer who resigned in the 1990s—barricaded himself in an eighth-floor room with an elderly patient and a security guard, wielding a jagged piece of toilet as a weapon, the New York Post reported.
Officers attempted to subdue Lynch with Tasers during a tense, bloody confrontation, but when that failed, they resorted to lethal force, resulting in his death at the scene.
Hours later, around 11 p.m. that same Thursday, a second tragedy struck in Manhattan during an apparent road rage incident, where cops on patrol were flagged down and encountered 37-year-old Dmitry Zass stepping out of a BMW, seemingly armed.
Officers opened fire, fatally striking Zass, only to later discover his weapon was an imitation Sig Sauer handgun, per NYPD photos—though sources noted his parents had called 911 earlier that day reporting he was attacking his father with a gun and had secured an order of protection against him.
While Mamdani was briefed on both incidents shortly after they occurred, he waited until 9:44 a.m. Friday to post a statement on X, calling the events "devastating to all New Yorkers" without acknowledging the specific circumstances, like Lynch's repeated Taser resistance or Zass's realistic-looking firearm.
His statement's focus on an "internal investigation" raised eyebrows among police sources, who pointed out such reviews are standard procedure, not a sign of officer misconduct as some felt Mamdani implied.
Later that Friday morning, a visibly displeased Commissioner Tisch was seen storming out of City Hall after meeting with administration officials, while Mamdani simultaneously faced reporters to justify his delayed reaction—though some sources claimed Tisch didn’t appear upset post-meeting.
Contrast that with Mamdani's swift presence at two 5-alarm fires in Queens and the Bronx earlier that week, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with FDNY officials to deliver updates, yet he was conspicuously absent from both life-or-death police scenes on Thursday.
At an unrelated event at Brooklyn College, Mamdani remarked, "I take it very seriously the language that I use," defending his cautious approach—yet one wonders if 16 hours of silence speaks louder than carefully crafted words.
Tisch, in her own X post at noon Friday, hailed the officers’ actions as "nothing short of heroic," a pointed contrast to Mamdani’s omission of any praise for the cops who risked their lives—an omission that didn’t sit well with many in uniform.
Sources close to the situation revealed NYPD brass kept City Hall, including Mamdani and First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, updated in real time with photos and detailed accounts, making the mayor’s delayed and vague response even more baffling to those expecting decisive leadership.
As one source quipped about Mamdani’s call for "genuine public safety," questioning what could be more genuine than shielding hostages from a sharp weapon, it’s clear the mayor’s progressive-leaning rhetoric is already clashing with the gritty realities of law enforcement—a tension reminiscent of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s early struggles with the NYPD, whom Mamdani reportedly admires.
Adding to the scrutiny, the New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation announced it would examine the road rage shooting, as it routinely assesses cases where police actions may have led to a death.
Meanwhile, an NYPD spokesperson clarified that the Force Investigation Division always handles such probes and announces as much during press briefings, undercutting any notion that Mamdani’s focus on an investigation was breaking news or a subtle jab at officers.
Just eight days into his term, Mamdani’s handling of this crisis has drawn sharp parallels to past mayoral missteps with law enforcement, leaving conservatives to wonder if his softened stance on police funding was mere campaign lip service, while still hoping he’ll find his footing to balance public safety with his reformist ideals.
