NYPD ordered to cut overtime under Mamdani — who vowed to slash budget: ‘Only the beginning’

 NYPD cops have been ordered to cut back on overtime — in what the rank-and-file fear is just the beginning under far-lefty Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on eliminating the department’s entire OT budget, The Post has learned.

Officers have been told they need to reduce their extra time by nine to 11 hours next month as part of a cost-cutting initiative, multiple sources said Friday.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the department planned to keep those caps in place after the shortest month of the year or if further cuts were in the works.

Mamdani campaigned on eliminating the overtime budget.Getty Images

Insiders said the order didn’t come down from City Hall and chalked it up to a short month with few big-ticket events.

“This is management 101 — of course, the NYPD would cut back on overtime spending during the shortest and coldest month of the year when there are the fewest number of large-scale events that typically require the use of overtime,” said the NYPD’s top spokesperson, Delaney Kempner.

“There will be plenty of overtime opportunities when events pick back up during the warmer months,” she added. 

Cops, though, were on edge with the cuts coming just three weeks into a new administration led by Mamdani, who previously called for defunding the police and campaigned on getting rid of the department’s overtime budget.

“Mumdummy strikes again,” one cop quipped to The Post. 

“This is not surprising, but it is only the beginning,” another cop complained.

“After the budget deficit, it only makes sense that Mandami would cut from the one agency that he hates the most – cops.”

Cops were ordered to cut back on OT come next month.William Farrington

The Big Apple is staring down a roughly $12 billion budget deficit while its new mayor made a slew of campaign promises to add billions in taxpayer-funded freebies and new initiatives.

One vow was to redirect the more than $1 billion in police overtime to fund his proposed Department of Community Safety, which is expected to be tasked with handling all mental health calls at all times in place of police.

NYPD overtime budget projected to come in at $1.1 billion by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

“The mayor has not dictated any new policies on the police department overtime budget,” a City Hall spokesman said.

https://nypost.com/2026/01/23/us-news/nypd-ordered-to-cut-back-on-overtime-under-mamdani/