We are New Yorkers who lived through 9/11 and its aftermath, an experience that permanently altered our sense of safety. Thanks to coordinated law enforcement efforts, another attack on that scale has been prevented—but terrorism in all its forms remains a serious threat.
Our next mayor must support counterterrorism and public safety at or above current levels. In a crisis, New York needs a leader with experience, competence, temperament, and the trust of law enforcement. Thirty-three-year-old Zohran Mamdani is not that leader. He has no crisis management background, little professional experience, an adversarial history with police, the highest staff turnover in Albany because of weak managerial skills, and the worst attendance record in the legislature. He has cycled through careers as an actor and rapper, has no record of making difficult judgment calls, and lacks the management experience required to oversee the complex security demands of the nation’s largest city.
Consider recent tragedies in New York: a gunman murdering four people in Midtown, including a police officer, security officer and parents of small children; an extremist killed a healthcare CEO last spring; the 2017 subway shooting that left bystanders dead.Plots in Times Square and the subway have been narrowly averted. Friends warn children to avoid large gatherings, houses of worship hire armed guards, and many people are terrified of taking public transit. This is the environment we live in and our next mayor must navigate.
New York’s density and global prominence make us a prime target for a terrorist attack. Preventing another large scale attack requires seamless coordination among the FBI, DHS, Secret Service, NYPD, State Police, and City Hall. That collaboration only works if the mayor has the trust of these agencies and the judgment to make rapid, life-or-death decisions. Mamdani’s inexperience and temperament would put New Yorkers at grave risk. Imagine him managing the kinds of violent incidents we’ve seen in Minneapolis or Melbourne—his lack of steadiness would almost guarantee intervention by the federal government, undermining the autonomy, authority and reputation of our own police department and putting all New Yorkers at risk. His recent appearances with the press have been filled with word salads, contradictions and indecisiveness, hardly reassuring.
Mamdani has repeatedly chosen ideology over judgment. He joined protests that shut down Grand Central Terminal, berated federal security officials, and claims he has the skills to “stand up to President Trump.” But in a true emergency, posturing is no substitute for leadership. The mayor of New York must be able to work with the White House to secure federal resources and coordinate with national agencies. Mamdani’s confrontational stance would create chaos at the very moment New Yorkers need security.
He has pledged to disband the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group—the very unit that handles major incidents like the recent Midtown shooting. That is not just naïve policy, it is dangerous. His membership in the Democratic Socialists of America underscores his embrace of anti-police rhetoric and unrealistic proposals, like sending social workers into dangerous situations instead of trained officers. He has associated with individuals who have expressed support for Hamas and has refused to denounce violent slogans such as “Globalize the Intifada.” His choices raise serious questions about whether he could objectively address threats to public safety or earn security clearance required to access classified intelligence. This will seriously undermine the City’s counterterrorism capabilities.
His personal record adds further doubts. He and his wife spent weeks in Uganda this summer even though its government has an abysmal record on human rights and even enacted one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ laws. Mamdani offered no public condemnation of Uganda’s dictatorial rule and harsh laws, while staying under militia protection.
The mayor of New York must be a steady hand in moments of chaos, capable of commanding respect across law enforcement, federal agencies, and the public. Mamdani’s inexperience and antagonism toward those responsible for keeping us safe make him wholly unfit for that role. Additionally, his essential temperament may not be suitable for the job: over the past few months we have seen him use extreme rhetoric and inciteful language at protests, and he has broken down on camera a number of times when he feels he is being criticized.
Every New Yorker—whether riding the subway, crossing a bridge, working in an office building, attending school, or worshiping—depends on a mayor who puts public safety first. The risks are too high to gamble on someone so untested and unreliable as Zohran Mamdani.
We must unite behind one candidate to ensure he is not elected. At this point, with so much at stake, and only a few weeks before early voting begins, we must support the candidate who has the experience , gravitas and temperament to handle New York’s security needs, and who has the best chance of winning. This candidate is Andrew Cuomo, and we must urge everyone who cares about their safety and the safety of their family and loved ones, to support Andrew Cuomo.
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Maria Danzilo, Executive Director, One City Rising and Consultant, Fix the City PAC
Jam Morrow, Writer, Lawyer, and Activist
