Mamdani administration plans to disband NYPD unit

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration says it will disband the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group and separate protest response from counterterrorism, though it has not announced how or when the change will take effect.

Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the administration would disband the unit and provide more details soon. The statement confirms the administration’s intention, but no formal order or implementation date has been announced.

The Strategic Response Group responds to protests, civil disturbances and major events, and also handles counterterrorism operations. Mamdani has argued that the functions should be separated, saying in September that the group had come to combine counterterrorism with responses to people exercising First Amendment rights.

At a March City Council budget hearing, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said discussions with the mayor concerned the future of protest policing, not disbanding the unit. Tisch also said the group does not typically handle peaceful demonstrations and is deployed to protests involving criminal activity. In 2025, the NYPD facilitated 4,255 protests, and the group was available at 245, according to Tisch.