{"id":183,"date":"2026-05-22T23:09:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T23:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183"},"modified":"2026-05-22T23:09:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T23:09:39","slug":"mamdani-breaks-with-dsa-with-support-of-nypd-union-backed-bills-boosting-pensions-retirement-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke with his far\u2011left Democratic Socialists of America base \u2014 and delivered a win for police unions by supporting legislation that would pad cops\u2019 pensions and bump up the NYPD retirement age.<\/p>\n

Read more Massive fire, explosion at NYC dry dock injures 16 \u2014\u00a0including 13 firefighters<\/a><\/p>\n

Progressive City Council members had been vowing not to support the two state bills, which require \u201chome rule\u201d messages of support from Big Apple pols to make it through in Albany. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe progressives were digging in, and the votes weren\u2019t there,\u201d a council source told The Post. <\/p>\n

The police union-backed legislation would raise the mandatory retirement age for most NYPD officers from 62 to 65, letting them stay on the job longer. It would also boost pensions by allowing officers to base them on any of their last three years of work, rather than just their final year on the job.<\/p>\n

Mamdani on Wednesday issued a last-minute \u201cletter of necessity,\u201d lowering the vote threshold for how much support the bills needed in the council in order to pass muster.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Mamdani said the mayor sent his support at the council\u2019s request. Council sources said NYPD union leaders had also pressed him to intervene.<\/p>\n

In 2022, left\u2011wing council members, led by Mamdani\u2019s fellow DSA member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n, successfully killed similar measures by abstaining, leaving the legislation four votes short of passage, according to a City & State report from the time.<\/p>\n

Then\u2011Mayor Eric Adams had not issued a letter of necessity to help push the bill over the top, citing budget concerns.<\/p>\n

Still, the NYC\u2011DSA, during Adams tenure as mayor, accused him of inflating the NYPD\u2019s budget at the expense of other social services programs.<\/p>\n

But when Mamdani signaled his support for the bills, many of the council\u2019s progressives followed his lead. Council members voted to back the pro-police home rule messages so overwhelmingly, that the lower vote threshold from Mamdani\u2019s letter of necessity didn\u2019t even matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re realizing that opposing everything related to the NYPD for the sake of opposing accomplishes nothing,\u201d one anonymous council member said.<\/p>\n

The council approved support for a higher mandatory retirement age for officers by a 47-2 vote, with Council Members Cab\u00e1n and Althea Stevens voting no, one abstention by Jennifer Guti\u00e9rrez and Chi Oss\u00e9 absent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The council also approved support for more generous NYPD pensions by a 42-5 vote, with no votes from Council Members Cab\u00e1n, Stevens, Alexa Avil\u00e9s, Crystal Hudson and Lincoln Restler and abstentions by Guti\u00e9rrez, Sandy Nurse and Julie Won; and Oss\u00e9 again absent.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump heaps praise on Giants\u2019 Jaxson Dart: \u2018Future Hall of Famer\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Both bills required home rule requests from New\u00a0York City in order to advance in Albany.<\/p>\n

Mamdani, during the mayoral campaign last year, distanced himself from the \u201cdefund the police\u201d stance he championed when he was a state assemblyman \u2014 parroting similar rallying cries as his fellow socialists for cuts to .<\/p>\n

One of his campaign pillars was to fully eliminate police overtime and use the funds to prop up a new agency that would replace cops with social workers in responding to mental health calls. That agency has yet to come to fruition.<\/p>\n

Mamdani also faced heat while running for mayor over his past comment against the NYPD, including calling cops racist and anti-queer.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the mayor said the administration backed the two-bill package to keep on veteran cops longer, adding that the measures would save the city money long-term, without going into detail.<\/p>\n

But Restler, a member of the council\u2019s Progressive Caucus, who split with the mayor over the police pension bill, told The Post it would do the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second bill continues a system with perverse\u00a0incentives where city workers try to pad overtime at the end of their career, and I didn\u2019t think it was fiscally responsible policy,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The mayor\u2019s reversal left some City Hall insiders questioning whether he\u2019s willing to toss aside his past rhetoric whenever it\u2019s politically convenient.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like, are we defunding the police or are they a necessity? I can\u2019t remember \u2014 maybe the mayor can tell me,\u201d quipped a council member.<\/p>\n

The mayor previously broke with his DSA allies when he re-appointed Jessica Tisch as police commissioner.<\/p>\n

Tisch, a prominent Jewish New Yorker and Zionist, has been at the center of attacks from the city\u2019s socialist club, including because of her calls to roll back a number of state criminal justice reforms from 2019.<\/p>\n

Read more Fox News guest Robert Harward sparks wild conspiracy theory over latest TV appearance<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke with his far\u2011left Democratic Socialists of America base \u2014 and delivered a win for police unions by supporting legislation that would pad cops’ pensions and bump up the NYPD retirement age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nMamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke with his far\u2011left Democratic Socialists of America base \u2014 and delivered a win for police unions by supporting legislation that would pad cops' pensions and bump up the NYPD retirement age.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T23:09:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"799\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T23:09:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183\"},\"wordCount\":790,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Metro\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183\",\"name\":\"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T23:09:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=183#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke with his far\u2011left Democratic Socialists of America base \u2014 and delivered a win for police unions by supporting legislation that would pad cops' pensions and bump up the NYPD retirement age.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-05-22T23:09:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":799,"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age","datePublished":"2026-05-22T23:09:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183"},"wordCount":790,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp","articleSection":["Metro"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183","name":"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-22T23:09:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5a28c745aa92c1293ea38f68a288767c.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=183#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mamdani breaks with DSA with support of NYPD union-backed bills boosting pensions, retirement age"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}