Mamdani distances himself from 'out of step' past statements on police
And the state Commission of Correction is losing patience with New York City's jails.
Good afternoon — it’s Wednesday and Whistleblower Day.
In today’s CapCon:
Zohran Mamdani returned to New York City Wednesday and was confronted by his past, which he said is where he wants to leave it. Hochul agrees.
The state Commission of Correction had an unusually tense meeting Wednesday over a 15-year delay at jails in New York City.
Republicans in the state Senate want a Hochul administration official to cool down her rhetoric on federal SNAP changes.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler has drawn a primary challenger who hopes to unseat him for the first time since 1992.
New York could soon have stricter regulations for pet health insurance.
Names in today’s CapCon: Zohran Mamdani, Kathy Hochul, Elizabeth Gaines, Allen Riley, Barbara Guinn, Roxanne Persaud, Robert Ortt, Jerry Nadler, Liam Elkind
❗ Only 3 Days Left: Click here for a free 30-day trial of CapCon.
🗣️ Mamdani distances himself from past statements on police, aligns with Hochul
Despite four people being killed by a gunman in Manhattan Monday night, the focus since has instead been on one man: Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani, the state assemblyman who’s now the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, arrived back in New York City Wednesday from a trip to visit family in Uganda.
After meeting with the family of NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, one of the four killed, Mamdani held a news briefing.
He was peppered with questions about his past positions in support of the ‘defund the police’ movement. That’s come up repeatedly after being pointed out this week by his political opponents.
“It is beyond me that politicians are looking to use these days to score such cynical political points,” Mamdani said.
He then tried to explain his past statements criticizing law enforcement, saying they were made after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 and in opposition to how police have been used in the city.
“The vision that we’ve put forward in this campaign, despite what others may say is not to ‘defund the police.’ It is in fact to allow these officers to respond to the serious crimes that many of them signed up to address,” Mamdani said.
He wants to use mobile crisis teams to respond to calls about mental health and substance use instead of deploying police in those situations, he said. That way, they can be used elsewhere.
This is not new information. It’s been Mamdani’s position throughout the campaign. But his social media posts from four years ago have resurfaced in recent days and been amplified by his opponents.
Mamdani wrote that “nature is healing” in response to a post from another user four years ago that they had seen an officer crying after the 2020 elections. He’s also previously posted that he wants to “defund the police.”
He said Wednesday in response to a question about the former post that it no longer reflected his position.
“The tweet you referred to is a tweet that is out of step with the way in which I not only view police officers and the immense work they do in this city but also the seriousness with which we need to treat that work and the difficulties that come with that work,” Mamdani said.
He also gave a shout-out to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her call in recent days for a federal ban on the sale of military-style weapons, though she’s said that multiple times before this week.
But it’s going to take more convincing from Mamdani to net an endorsement from Hochul, who said in a radio interview Wednesday that he’s going to have to make clear that his position on police has changed.
“I’ve not made any decisions but that kind of ‘defund the police’ attitude is nothing I could ever support and whether people have changed that position, I need to know, I want to see a plan for making our city and region safer,” Hochul said.
💵 State correction commission losing patience with NYC jails over fees
Meetings of the state Commission of Correction are usually not very eventful. The three-member panel is responsible for overseeing correctional facilities in New York.
That typically includes approving requests from those facilities for capital improvements or permission to be exempt from state rules and regulations. Their meeting Wednesday was like that as well but with a twist.
The New York City Department of Correction requested a variance, or exemption, from a state regulation that sets a $5 cap on the fees paid by family members who deposit money using a vendor’s kiosk for someone who’s incarcerated.
It’s not the first time the city agency has requested the variance. Apparently it’s been in place since 2010.
The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has, meanwhile, been able to comply with the $5 cap, with fees at $4.75 and below.
The city requested to extend its variance another 10 months, leaving fees in place of up to $11.95 for deposits at kiosks. Between now and then, the city is expected to choose a new kiosk vendor.
Elizabeth Gaynes, one of the commission’s members, wasn’t having it this time around.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Capitol Confidential with Dan Clark to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.