Andrew Cuomo rolled out a new campaign logo and his new public safety proposal Monday, including boosting police officer pay and other recruitment initiatives. He also proposed expanding a specialty unit his main rival, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, wants to disband.
The former governor, who is running for mayor as an independent in November after losing the primary in June, presented everything sitting behind a desk and accompanied by a slideshow, a throwback to his COVID-era briefings from Albany.
Cuomo’s public safety initiative would cost an estimated $250 million over five years and looks to add 5,000 new officers to the NYPD with a $15,000 sign-on bonus and thousands of dollars in other “retention incentives.”
The increased pay, along with work done to improve police and community relations, would make people “excited to join,” Cuomo said.
“You’re joining the NYPD, it is the finest police force in the United States of America — be proud,” he said. “You’re lucky if you can get recruited, and that’s the way it was and that’s the way it should be.”
Cuomo also called for adding officers to the Strategic Response Group, a specialized unit that responds to major emergencies and protests.
Mamdani has called for the SRG to be disbanded, noting in a post on social media seven months ago that it has cost the city “millions in lawsuit settlements and brutalized countless New Yorkers exercising their first amendment rights,” while accusing them of harassing and arresting protesters.
In contrast, Cuomo said the SRG “should be increased.” “They are key — key to counterterrorism, key to mass protests. And it’s only going to get worse, not better.”
Under his plan, there would be 400 new SRG officers over four years and expand where they patrol, including transit hubs and “high-risk public spaces.”
Focus on the unit increased after last week’s deadly shooting in Midtown.
Police say a gunman drove from Las Vegas to the building housing the offices of the National Football League and killed four people, including NYPD officer Didarul Islam who was working as an off-duty guard in the building.
SRG officers responded to the shooting, where the suspect shot himself on a higher floor of the building.
“I think it would be a tremendous mistake to disband them,” Cuomo said.
At a press conference last week, Mamdani said that the SRG’s role in emergencies like the Midtown shooting was appropriate, but criticized their role in responding to protests.
“What we saw on Monday was an example of how we would want a response to look like to an emergency,” he said.
Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent in November, criticized Cuomo’s plan to expand SRG if there wasn’t a specific reason for it.
“When you deploy police personnel there should be a reason behind it, so what is his reason to increase the number?” he told reporters outside City Hall on Monday.
“Because SRG comes with specific skills and talents that you want to use, you don’t want SRG riding up on our subways just doing routine patrol.”
At his Monday press conference, Cuomo also promised to roll out more plans and proposals for affordability, along with a new blue, orange and white logo that is meant to evoke both the Statue of Liberty’s crown and the sun, according to a spokesperson.