Two of the canceled NYPD academy classes are back on, Mayor Eric Adams announced Saturday afternoon.
The new rookies from the July and October classes are expected to add 1,200 to the dwindling ranks of the police department, which has struggled to recruit new officers and retain seasoned cops over the last few years.
“I always say that public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity. By driving down crime, we have saved lives and laid the foundation for economic recovery, but we want to keep that going and we won’t do anything to risk all our progress,” said Hizzoner
“Today, I am proud to announce that, thanks to our strong fiscal management that has stabilized the city budget and our fiscal outlook, we are funding two additional police classes this year in the upcoming Executive Budget.”
The mayor’s budget, which is set to be unveiled as early as Tuesday, is not expected to include funding for a full slate of four police classes.
But Adams maintained Saturday that the city is on pace to bring the NYPD uniformed staffing levels up to 35,000, for the first time since the mass exodus started during COVID.
Currently, the NYPD has 33,695 uniformed officers, just over 1,300 fewer than the budgeted headcount.
The Adams administration called off five classes to train new recruits as part of multiple rounds of budget cuts to offset the cost of the migrant crisis, which has the city on the hook for nearly $10 billion through next year.
Earlier this year, though, higher-than-expected revenue has led the administration to roll back a series of cuts, including one of this fiscal year’s police classes and more than $500 million in educational cuts next year.