Mamdani Hires Alex Vitale: NYC’s New Plan for ‘Community  Safety’ Is to End Policing

New York City is about to become the world’s most ambitious social experiment, and unfortunately for the people who live there, they never volunteered. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani—who has spent years sniping at the NYPD before briefly pretending to “rethink” his views—has now unveiled the crown jewel of his transition team: Alex Vitale, the academic who literally wrote a book titled The End of Policing. That’s not hyperbole, not an exaggeration, not a cute metaphor—it is the actual name of the book. And this is the man Mamdani has put in charge of shaping community safety for eight million people. It’s the kind of decision you’d expect from a college debating society, not the incoming mayor of America’s largest city, but here we are.

Vitale’s worldview hinges on one simple premise: policing is inherently harmful. Not flawed, not in need of reform—harmful. In his book, he argues that gang units are racist, that border enforcement is xenophobic, and that police shouldn’t intervene in issues like narcotics, prostitution, adolescent misbehavior, or even gang activity. In his telling, criminal behavior is not the problem. The problem is the people enforcing the laws. And for reasons only understood in the insulated echo chambers of Brooklyn faculty lounges, he believes that replacing police with community “investment” and “evidence-based strategies” will magically produce safer streets. This is, of course, a theory that only sounds smart when you never have to step outside after sunset.

Sky News captured the absurdity perfectly when their panel pointed out the obvious: it’s easy to fantasize about a utopian city with no police, where everyone is friendly and the worst crime is somebody forgetting to recycle. But we do not live in that world, and the people pushing these ideas know it. They simply don’t care, because they will never feel the consequences. They live in neighborhoods with private security, concierge desks, controlled-access lobbies, and enough insulation from reality to pretend bold experiments have no downside. Meanwhile, the single mom in Harlem, the deli owner in Queens, and the night-shift nurse taking the 2 a.m. subway are left hoping they survive long enough to see the next administration reverse this madness.

What makes this even more unbelievable is that Mamdani just finished his brief “I’ve learned a lot” apology tour after a tragic shooting rocked the city, killing several people including a police officer. At that moment, he tried to present himself as someone who had gained perspective, someone who now understood the importance of policing in a city that never sleeps. That lasted all of five minutes. Now he’s elevating a man whose professional brand is the dismantling of the NYPD. This isn’t leadership. It’s political cosplay for progressive approval, and it telegraphs exactly what kind of administration New Yorkers are about to get.

And while Mamdani was busy picking a police abolitionist to run public safety, he still found time to meet with President Trump at the White House. Trump was cordial, respectful, and professional—something the media always pretends is impossible for him. But Mamdani couldn’t wait to rush onto television afterward to reassure his base that he still considers Trump a “fascist.” Even when asked a simple question—whether he agreed with Bernie Sanders that Trump had done a better job securing the border than Biden—he refused to give even a crumb of credit. Why? Because acknowledging border security would get him excommunicated from the activist left faster than you can say “sanctuary city.” Instead, he pivoted to his safe talking points about “humanity” and “affordability,” proving that the performance never stops, even when sitting across from the president.

The whole thing reveals a deeper truth: Mamdani is not building a serious government. He is building a stage for ideological theater. His supporters do not want a safer city. They want a purer revolution. They want a New York stripped of police, borders, enforcement, and anything resembling order, because they believe chaos is a sign of moral evolution. Meanwhile, the rest of the country watches and wonders how many times America’s greatest city must burn itself politically before its voters realize that the people suffering the most under progressive policies are the very communities progressives claim to champion.

This is why the appointment of Alex Vitale should not be dismissed as symbolic. It is strategic. It signals that policing will be reduced, criminal behavior will be reframed as social struggle, and law enforcement will be treated not as guardians but as obstacles. It tells officers that the city’s leadership does not trust them. It tells criminals that the city is losing its spine. And it tells residents that the next administration believes theory is more important than their safety. When crime inevitably rises, Mamdani and Vitale will blame the “structural system” or “underfunded programs” or “societal inequity.” They will never admit that the problem was their plan itself—a plan built on ideology, not reality.

In the end, the partnership between Mamdani and Alex Vitale is not just misguided. It is dangerous. It is the triumph of academic fantasy over common sense. It is the story of a progressive mayor-elect so desperate to impress the activist class that he is willing to gamble the safety of millions on a policing model that has never worked anywhere it has been tried. New Yorkers deserve better. They deserve safety, stability, and leadership grounded in reality—not a social experiment built around abolishing the very thing that keeps them alive.

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JIMMY

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