Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani (D-NYC) raised eyebrows with a recent addition to his transition team: sociology professor and author of “The End of Policing,” Alex Vitale.
Mamdani had to dial back his own anti-police rhetoric during his mayoral campaign, apologizing to New York City police officers for previous comments when prompted by Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum, but his selection of Vitale appears to be a sign that he’s reverting back to his original positions.
“I’m excited to announce that I have been asked to join the Mamdani Transition Team to work on community safety issues. A New Era for NYC,” Vitale announced via X on Sunday.
As critics quickly pointed out, Vitale’s position has always been decidedly anti-cop. His book, “The End of Policing,” imagines a word where “modern policing” is broadly replaced by a combination of decriminalization and community empowerment. He argues that policing is designed to reinforce inequality, and that giving police officers diversity training is not enough to bridge the gap.
He has called for the decriminalization of offenses such as prostitution and drug use, and advocates for private corporations or government programs that would provide permanent housing for the homeless population. In addition, he has repeatedly attacked Israel, claiming that Israelis are “occupying” land belonging to Palestinians — and tied that in to his negative views on policing as well, complaining that American police should not be training with Israelis: “I’m not happy with these exchanges of policing to Israel. Israel is engaged in an occupation.”
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Video circulated of Vitale, in an interview, referring to police as “violence workers” and adding, “if you don’t want racism and violence, don’t get the police involved.”
WATCH:
🚨 New Mamdani Transition Team Member Says Cops Are “Violence Workers” and NYPD–Israel Training Trips “Pervert American Politics”
Alex Vitale — author of The End of Policing, sociology professor at Brooklyn College, CUNY Graduate Center, and now officially part of Zohran… pic.twitter.com/n6REJNfbjH
— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) November 24, 2025
The overall assessment, as shared by a number of people via X, is that Mamdani had simply reverted to the same anti-police, anti-Israel socialist that his opposition had spent the entire campaign warning people he was.
“The biggest risk of a Mamdani mayorship? Mass exodus from the NYPD. This occurred in SF under the radical left DA, Chesa Boudin. When police aren’t supported, they quit, retire early, or never join in the first place,” one posted.
“Huge step backwards for Mamdani. This guy wants to defund and abolish policing. You can find him wherever prep school lefties congregate, zero working class New Yorkers adhere to these ideas,” another added.
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