New York City's newly elected Democratic Socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has ignited controversy with a key appointment to his mayoral transition team. He has selected far-left activist Tamika Mallory, a vocal advocate for defunding the police and a noted supporter of the notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, for a position on the committee overseeing community safety.
Controversial Appointment to Safety Panel
According to a press release from the incoming administration, Tamika Mallory was named to Mamdani's 400-person mayoral transition committee. Specifically, she will sit on the 26-person Committee on Community Safety. Mallory has a history of advocating for the abolition of police forces, stating in the past that "one day we can abolish police."
Her appointment has drawn significant scrutiny due to her repeated public praise for Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan has a decades-long record of antisemitic rhetoric. In 1984, he infamously referred to Adolf Hitler as a "very great man" on national television. As recently as 2019, he made baseless claims linking Talmudic principles to paedophilia in Hollywood.
Mallory has called Farrakhan an "honorable minister" and once posted a photo of him online with the caption G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time). When challenged on The View in 2019, she defended the accolade, stating it was for "what he’s done in black communities" rather than his rhetoric. This association previously forced her resignation from a leadership role at the Women's March in 2019.
History of Police Defunding Advocacy
The activist re-entered the spotlight in 2020 during the national George Floyd protests, becoming a prominent voice in the "defund the police" movement. In June 2020, she publicly demanded that former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Governor Andrew Cuomo defund the NYPD. In an interview, she stated, "I definitely support the term defund the police... I support it 100 percent," later adding her belief in the potential for police abolition.
Mayor-elect Mamdani himself has faced accusations of antisemitism, which he has strongly denied, pointing to meetings with Jewish leaders during and after his campaign. While he has appointed rabbis and other Jewish New Yorkers to his transition committee, he remains a staunch critic of Israel. Mamdani also previously called for defunding the police during the 2020 protests but distanced himself from that position during his election campaign.
Abolitionist Author Also Joins Committee
Mallory's appointment was not made in isolation. Mamdani also placed author and academic Alex Vitale on the same Committee on Community Safety. Vitale is the author of the 2017 book 'The End of Policing', which argues for the abolition of most police activities in the United States. The book gained prominence during the 2020 protests.
Vitale is an early proponent of a policy Mamdani adopted: transferring certain duties from NYPD officers to social workers. The mayor-elect plans to create a 'Department of Community Safety' to handle issues like mental health crises, arguing police are overworked and ill-equipped for such calls. Vitale has written that racism in policing is structural, not merely a product of individual bias.
The Daily Mail contacted both Tamika Mallory and Mamdani's campaign team for comment on the appointment but did not receive an immediate response. The selections signal a potentially radical shift in New York City's approach to public safety under the new administration, setting the stage for significant political debate.
