Zohran Mamdani tells audience of NYPD officers they shouldn't have to handle mental health calls

Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani — who has faced heat lately over years-old social media posts critical of the police — came face-to-face with an audience of NYPD officers Tuesday night and told them he would, if elected, spare them the responsibility of responding to most mental health calls.

“We must stop asking them to respond to nearly every single failure of the social safety net,” Mamdani said at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza as a contingent of cops from the nearby 78th Precinct flanked him for an annual “ National Night Out ” event. “We must stop making it impossible for them to do their jobs by asking them to do every other job we can think of.”

Mamdani, a socialist who defeated Andrew Cuomo in last month’s Democratic mayoral primary , was referring to his proposal t