NYPD officers woke up Wednesday morning to a nightmare scenario.
New York City just elected a socialist who spent years calling to defund the police.
And Ron DeSantis made one jaw-dropping offer to NYPD officers after this election disaster.
New York City elects anti-police socialist as mayor
New York voters handed the keys to America's largest city to Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist with a documented history of attacking police.¹
The Democratic Socialists of America member defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in Tuesday's election.²
Mamdani will be the youngest New York mayor in over a century and the first Muslim to hold the position.³
But his victory celebration masks a darker reality for the 36,000 officers of the NYPD.
In June 2020, Mamdani posted on social media: "We don't need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD."⁴
https://twitter.com/A4PublicSafety/status/1953470390543519831?s=20
That wasn't an isolated outburst.
In December 2020, Mamdani wrote: "In the last budget, the City Council tried to make the NYPD reduce its overtime budget by half. They simply refused. There is no negotiating with an institution this wicked & corrupt. Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence."⁵
Now this man is going to be their boss.
Florida governor extends lifeline to New York's finest
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis watched New York's election results and saw an opportunity.
Within hours of Mamdani's victory, DeSantis took to social media with a message aimed squarely at NYPD officers.
"The $5k recruitment bonus we give to new officers will be utilized by a number of these NYPD officers," DeSantis posted on X. "There is no reason to risk your life serving when the mayor hates you and believes your department shouldn't even exist."⁶
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1986170999574859982?s=20
DeSantis knows exactly what he's doing.
Florida launched its Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program in 2022, providing a one-time $5,000 bonus after taxes to newly employed officers.⁷
The program has been wildly successful.
More than 9,400 officers have received bonuses totaling over $63 million, with more than 1,900 law enforcement officers from 49 other states and two territories relocating to Florida.⁸
More than 600 of those officers came from "anti-police states like California, Illinois, and New York."⁹
The exodus from blue states to Florida has been building for years.
Now DeSantis is positioning Florida as a sanctuary for officers who don't want to work for a mayor who called their department "wicked and corrupt."
Mamdani tried walking back his anti-police rhetoric during the campaign.
During a mayoral debate, he said: "I will not defund the police. I will work with the police because I believe the police have a critical role to play in public service, public safety."¹⁰
But nobody's buying the transformation.
Critics called his apology tour "a cynical and transparent attempt at damage control" and noted he "balked at multiple opportunities to explicitly retract or apologize for his long and sordid history of anti-police statements."¹¹
DeSantis offers more than just money
The $5,000 bonus is nice.
But DeSantis is selling something money can't buy – respect.
Under Florida's Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget, DeSantis secured $49 million in pay increases for more than 16,200 state sworn law enforcement officers and raised the minimum base pay to $60,000.¹²
Florida expanded wellness resources, enhanced penalties for crimes against officers, and launched law enforcement education programs in high schools.¹³
The state treats police like heroes instead of villains.
Compare that to what NYPD officers face under Mamdani.
The new mayor promised to create a "Department of Community Safety" that would handle mental health calls currently managed by police.¹⁴
Mamdani also plans to remove NYPD officers from the city's PATH homeless outreach teams.¹⁵
https://twitter.com/FreedomFrontHQ/status/1987974504392651220?s=20
Translation: he's chipping away at what police do while maintaining he "supports" them.
Mamdani admitted during the campaign that "200 officers are leaving the department every month" due to forced overtime and expanding responsibilities.¹⁶
That exodus is about to accelerate.
Officers stuck in New York face a grim future – working for a mayor who spent years calling them racist and corrupt, while crime continues plaguing the city.
Or they can take DeSantis up on his offer.
Move to Florida, get a $5,000 bonus, work in a state with a 50-year-low crime rate, and serve under political leadership that actually backs the blue.¹⁷
DeSantis summed up the choice perfectly in his post.
There's no reason to risk your life when your mayor hates you and thinks your department shouldn't exist.
New York City voters made their choice Tuesday.
Now NYPD officers get to make theirs.
And Florida is ready to welcome them with open arms.
¹ NPR, "Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayoral race," November 5, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ CNN Politics, "Mamdani confronts his past calls to defund police after an officer's death in New York," July 31, 2025.
⁵ Fox News, "NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani shifts from 'defund police' stance," August 5, 2025.
⁶ The Western Journal, "After Mamdani Victory, DeSantis Makes NYPD Officers an Offer They Can't Refuse," November 7, 2025.
⁷ Florida Executive Office of the Governor, "Governor Ron DeSantis Awards Bonuses to Law Enforcement Recruits, Reaching More Than 9,400 Total," 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Fox News, "NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani shifts from 'defund police' stance," August 5, 2025.
¹¹ Fox News, "TIMELINE: Evolution of Mamdani's defunding police rhetoric to this week's 'damage control'," August 2, 2025.
¹² Florida Executive Office of the Governor, "Governor Ron DeSantis Awards Bonuses to Law Enforcement Recruits, Reaching More Than 9,400 Total," 2025.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ CNN Politics, "Zohran Mamdani called to defund police in the past. Now he's 'seeking to learn'," August 30, 2025.
¹⁵ Police1, "What NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's public safety agenda could mean for NYPD," November 7, 2025.
¹⁶ Fox News, "NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani shifts from 'defund police' stance," August 5, 2025.
¹⁷ Florida Executive Office of the Governor, "Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Nearly 1,400 Bonuses Issued to New Law Enforcement Recruits," 2023.
