Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected Monday to announce a rebranding of the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group as left wing allies pressure him to abolish the elite tactical unit. The planned announcement follows his campaign promise to eliminate the SRG after years of activist complaints about its handling of protests.
The 500 member unit performs counterterrorism duties and responds to demonstrations. Insiders briefed on the plan told The Post that Mamdani will say he has “decoupled” the unit’s protest responsibilities from its counterterrorism work.
The move is intended to calm the far left wing of Mamdani’s party, which has recently demanded that he fulfill his campaign promise, according to sources. Mamdani plans to present the changes as a “massive overhaul” of how New York City handles gatherings protected by the First Amendment.
REPORTER: “Who responds to terrorist threats if the Strategic Response Group is disbanded?”
MORE NEWS: Mass. Dem Gov. Healy Uses Emergency Power to Shield Barbaric Abortion Until Birth Law [WATCH]
MAMDANI: “As I’ve said… I’m committed to disbanding the Strategic Response Group and that I do not believe that the responsibilities of counterterrorism and enforcement and First Amendment response are one and the same.”
A reporter presses NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani about who would respond to terrorist threats and mass shootings if the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group unit is disbanded.
The NYPD’s Strategic Response Group is an elite unit deployed to respond to major emergencies, violent crime, civil unrest, protests and high-profile events across New York City.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 13, 2026
Insiders, however, claimed the announcement would have little practical effect. They described the plan as a revamp that would allow the SRG to continue operating under another name while retaining important public safety responsibilities.
The unit would still respond to active shooters and other potential mass casualty or terrorism related events. One city official delivered a blunt assessment of the mayor’s plan: “This is not a disband, this a rebrand.”
One of the administration’s few substantive proposals involves adding civilian workers under the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety. That office currently has only two employees, while the additional civilian workers have not yet been hired or trained.
Those workers would respond to protests and attempt to calm tensions alongside officers from the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau. That bureau already responds to the overwhelming majority of demonstrations.
The civilian component is not expected to materialize quickly. “That is like at least a year out,” one source predicted, putting a rather distant timeline on a central piece of Mamdani’s supposed overhaul.
The civilians also would not respond to protests without armed officers present, insiders said. If a demonstration became violent, additional officers could be summoned to make arrests, although it was not immediately clear which units would provide them.
Historically, the SRG has responded when demonstrations become violent, and deployment requires the mayor’s approval. The unit has handled fewer than 20 such events this year and made around a dozen arrests.
Mamdani also plans to announce bans on kettling and tear gas. Kettling, a police tactic in which officers encircle protesters, became controversial during the 2020 George Floyd protests, but both restrictions are already being placed in the patrol guide.
The attempted splash comes after incoming Congresswoman Darializa Avila Chevalier attacked the Mamdani administration over its handling of a protest following the shooting of a Dominican migrant by ICE agents. She demanded that the SRG be disbanded.
Her criticism triggered a firestorm among other Democratic Socialists of America members, who joined the effort to pressure Mamdani. Although he campaigned on eliminating the unit, the complicated process was not prioritized after he took office.
Mamdani placed the project on the “back burner” before scrambling to answer the backlash, The Post reported last week. Sources said the planned announcement is not expected to take the form of an executive order.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry doubted that the mayor’s changes would satisfy his political base. “No matter what changes he makes, the mayor can’t be foolish enough to believe they will satisfy his base,” Hendry said.
Hendry argued that the campaign against the tactical unit was aimed at something much larger than the SRG. “‘Disband SRG’ was always code for ‘Disband the whole NYPD,’ and they won’t stop until they achieve that goal.”