Giuliani Calls Out Trump Foe Mamdani

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is sounding the alarm over Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s approach to crime, policing and public safety, arguing that City Hall is making the NYPD’s difficult job even harder.

During a Saturday appearance on Newsmax’s “Saturday Report,” Giuliani pointed to disturbing incidents of seemingly random violence on New York City streets and in the subway system as he delivered a sharp critique of the mayor.

“You have a mayor who is indifferent,” Giuliani said.

The former mayor argued that political leadership can have a significant effect on public safety, even when police officers are aggressively enforcing the law.

Giuliani praised the NYPD and its leadership, saying officers continue to do strong work despite what he views as an unsupportive political environment at City Hall.

But his criticism of Mamdani was unmistakable.

Giuliani said the mayor “might as well get on television and tell people to commit crimes,” arguing that policies perceived as tolerant of lawlessness can send the wrong message to people considering criminal behavior.

NYPD Crime Numbers Tell A More Complicated Story

While Giuliani focused on random attacks and the public’s concerns about safety, the latest official statistics show major declines in several serious categories of crime.

According to the NYPD, major crime fell 6.6% citywide in August compared with the same month in 2025. More than 5,000 fewer major crimes have been reported so far this year.

The department also reported the safest summer in recorded New York City history for shootings, shooting victims and murders.

From June through August, New York recorded 195 shooting incidents, 249 shooting victims and 66 murders — all record lows for the summer period.

The subway also posted historically low levels of violent crime during August, with no reported shootings, murders or rapes and a record-low 27 robberies.

However, not every category improved. Felony assaults increased slightly year over year, while reported rapes and confirmed hate crimes were also higher during the first eight months of 2026.

Those figures illustrate the complicated nature of New York’s public-safety debate: overall statistics can improve while individual violent incidents continue to generate fear and intense public attention.

Giuliani Points To Mental Health And Homelessness

Giuliani also argued that some of the city’s most troubling street and subway incidents are connected to a broader mental-health and homelessness crisis.

The former mayor criticized the idea of sending social workers alone to potentially dangerous emergency calls.

A social worker “would have been killed by now,” Giuliani said.

Giuliani said his administration favored having police officers work alongside social-service professionals when dealing with potentially dangerous individuals.

That approach, he argued, provided protection for social workers while allowing people suffering from serious mental-health problems to receive assistance.

Giuliani also defended his administration’s aggressive approach toward homeless encampments and people living on sidewalks.

He said individuals should not have an unrestricted right to establish permanent living spaces on public streets and argued that city government should intervene when homelessness, mental illness and public safety overlap.

The debate over how New York should address those problems has remained one of the city’s most difficult policy challenges.

Giuliani Turns To The 25th Anniversary Of 9/11

Giuliani also addressed another deeply emotional issue for New Yorkers: the approaching 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

As mayor during 9/11, Giuliani became one of the country’s most prominent public figures in the aftermath of the attacks.

He said Americans must continue remembering the danger posed by Islamist extremism while emphasizing that he was not referring to Muslims generally.

Giuliani recalled that after the terrorist attacks, he publicly urged New Yorkers not to retaliate against Muslim or Arab residents.

His administration also took steps intended to prevent innocent people from becoming targets of backlash following the attacks.

Mamdani’s Expected 9/11 Appearance Draws Opposition

Giuliani has also objected to Mamdani participating in the upcoming 9/11 commemoration.

Opposition to Mamdani’s presence is not limited to Giuliani. A petition urging the mayor to stay away from the ceremony has attracted tens of thousands of signatures, reflecting the intense political controversy surrounding the issue.

Giuliani argued that the wishes of victims’ families should be given priority.

“If he had a little bit of a heart, even with his views, he wouldn’t go,” Giuliani said.

He maintained that Mamdani’s presence could upset some relatives gathering to remember loved ones killed nearly 25 years ago.

Giuliani said that when he was mayor, and later when Michael Bloomberg led the city, officials paid close attention to the wishes of 9/11 families when determining how commemorations should be conducted.

For Giuliani, those families remain the central figures in the annual ceremony.

Public Safety Remains A Major New York Debate

Giuliani’s comments highlight the continuing disagreement over how New York City should handle policing, homelessness, mental illness and quality-of-life concerns.

The former mayor believes political leadership matters enormously in determining whether criminals fear consequences and whether police officers feel supported.

At the same time, the city’s latest official statistics complicate claims that New York is experiencing a broad surge in violent crime. The NYPD reported record-low levels of shootings and murders during the summer and substantial reductions in overall major crime.

That leaves New Yorkers confronting two realities at once: official statistics showing considerable improvement in several major crime categories and highly publicized violent incidents that can leave residents worried about their personal safety.

With New York approaching the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, those disagreements are colliding with an equally emotional debate over who should participate in one of the city’s most solemn annual commemorations.