As part of a $250 million public safety plan, Andrew Cuomo said Monday he wants to nearly double the size of a specialized NYPD unit as controversy around the division and police funding has heated up on this year’s mayoral race campaign trail.

In an afternoon press conference in Midtown Manhattan, Cuomo, who’s running as an independent in November’s mayoral contest, said he’d if elected add 400 officers to the ranks of the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group .

Cuomo also used the occasion to take a shot at Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, who following last week’s Midtown shooting said he was backing away from previous calls to defund the NYPD. Cuomo and Mayor Adams have both seized on Mamdani’s past tweets about wanting to defund the department, arguing they show his true fee

See Full Page