Even Democrats are getting on board with ramped-up policing to fight crime in the cities destroyed by cashless bail and anti-policing protests, if only to defeat democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo threw his support behind outgoing Democrat Mayor Eric Adams' proposal to hire 5,000 additional NYPD officers, framing it as a necessary step to combat police attrition and restore normal workloads within the department.

"We're losing police officers at one of the highest rates of attrition because they're so short-staffed, they have to work all the time," Cuomo said, the New York Post reported Saturday. "Hiring 5,000 police officers will actually give them enough staff where people can work normal shifts."

Adams' plan would expand the NYPD's ranks from just under 34,000 to about 40,000 by 2029 — the largest force in nearly 20 years. The initiative, costing an estimated $17.8 million next fiscal year and rising to $315.8 million by 2029, hinges on City Council approval.

On the campaign trail, Cuomo used the announcement to take aim at rival Mamdani, who had backed the defund-the-police movement. Cuomo, forced to run as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, accused Mamdani of opposing Adams' plan and being "against the police."

"Either Mamdani knows more about public safety than Mayor Adams — who served 22 years as a police officer — or he's just pushing ideology," Cuomo said. "Socialists are against the police."

In an effort to get elected, Mamdani has attempted to pivot from anti-policing rhetoric, apologizing "for the language I've used" and proposing a $1.1 billion Department of Community Safety to handle nonviolent mental health calls. He has also pledged to retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch if elected.

Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa said the state of New York rejected Cuomo's leftism, and that both he and liberals like Mamdani have caused the destruction of New York they now claim to be the answer to fixing.

"Andrew Cuomo, the one that you're flirting with, said he would leave New York City and flee to Florida" if he loses next week, Sliwa told Newsmax's "Finnerty" this week. "I fight for what I know is right. Improve, don't move.

"If I happen to lose to Zohran Mamdani, I become his worst nightmare."

"I pitch my Republican flag and my law and order values, and I fight, fight, fight. That's what Republicans do — we don't surrender, we don't retreat, and we don't drop out."

• Curtis Sliwa to Newsmax: I 'Fight, Fight, Fight' for NYC
• Curtis Sliwa to Newsmax: Beat Mamdani in Streets, Not Suites