Socialist Zohran Mamdani once questioned ‘purpose’ of prisons, jails — raising alarm bells: ‘It’s scary’

Lefty mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani once questioned the “purpose” of jails and prisons — setting off alarm bells among law enforcement officers who blasted the comments as “out of touch” and dangerous Friday.

The Queens socialist, who easily won the Democratic primary last month, made the eyebrow-raising remark when he was running for his current state Assembly seat nearly five years ago.

“I think that frankly, I mean, what purpose do they serve, right?” Mamdani said when asked by a co-host of “The Far Left Show” in August 2020 if prisons were obsolete.

“I think we have to ask ourselves that … I think a lot of people who defend the carceral state, that defend the idea of it and the way it makes them feel, they’re not defending the reality of it and the practices that are part and parcel of it,” he continued.

“Because if you actually break it down … how many people come out the prison system better than they went into the prison system?”

The clip — which resurfaced on social media this week after being shared by the “End Wokeness” account and shared widely in conservative circles — sparked outrage in the law enforcement community.

“It’s scary that a mayoral candidate could be this out of touch with the realities of living in communities that have historically experienced violence and crime,” the source said. “Sounds like he will change his tune once he realizes how unhinged that sounds in the real world.”

Another law enforcement source ripped Mamdani’s comments as “luxury beliefs” with potential dire consequences that the 33-year-old Democratic nominee and his supporters won’t want to face.

“It’s the poor neighborhoods that the stalker, domestic abuser, and shooting recidivist will return [to],” the source argued.

“But the rules of civil society that make this city the luxury item most of Zohran’s constituency want to live in is a product of that — bad people in jail so they can pretend they live on a movie set.”

One Manhattan cop added: “Letting criminals walk the streets without any repercussions is not repairing anything.”

The head of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association called the comments “both outrageous and shocking,” while accusing Mamdani of caring more about “violent criminals” than their victims.

“If he is elected mayor, and his decarceration agenda moves forward, our communities and neighborhoods will be terrorized by the same violent criminals who have proven to be a threat to society,” COBA President Benny Boscio said in a statement.

“Every New Yorker better wake up and understand that their safety and their family’s safety is at stake in this election.” 

Mamdani’s campaign didn’t return a request for comment.

Mamdani has long criticized the prison system, calling crisis at Rikers Island.

In the 2020 interview, Mamdani questioned “how much harm is actually being prevented versus created” by locking offenders up.

Zohran Mamdani on abolishing prisons and jail: "What purpose do they serve, besides making people feel good?"

“I think when you ask these kinds of questions, people don’t always have clear answers, what they always want to pivot to is ‘What are you going to do about murderers?’ and ‘What are you going to do about rapists?’ and sometimes you have to ask them, ‘What are you doing about them right now?’” he said.

“We need a system of justice that will repair the harm that has been caused and address it in a serious way because right now we don’t have it and it makes everyone more unsafe and that is the truth of it.”

More recently, Mamdani told The City leading up to last month’s Dem primary that he wanted to stay the course on closing Rikers, while working with district attorneys in the city to cut loose more defendants pre-trial or divert them from prosecution entirely.

At a mayoral forum in March, the lefty candidate again vowed to shut down Rikers — which is unlikely to meet its legally mandated closure date in 2027 — while also promising to throw more funds at alternatives to locking people up, according to Gay City News.

GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa — who will face Mamdani in the November general election — slammed the past sound bite as “absolutely preposterous.”

“Of course we need jails to keep dangerous individuals off our streets,” the Guardian Angels founder said in a statement, “but he is no different than Eric Adams who is shutting down Rikers or Andrew Cuomo who pushed to close it while celebrating the shutdown of over 18 state prisons and passing laws that coddle criminals and let them avoid the jail time they deserve.”

New Yorkers who spoke to The Post Friday also backed the need for prisons, while acknowledging the facilities could be improved for staff and inmates.

 “We definitely still need prisons,” said Phil Hollant, 62, a city worker who supports ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor.

“The key to helping our prisons really accomplish their goals is to get the corrections officers, the union, and members to buy into their obligations to the residents of the prisons,” he said. “That’s really the challenge.”

Harlem resident Nicole, 34, echoed that sentiment.

“I think (prisons) should exist, but they can get better,” she said as she questioned Mamdani’s rationale in 2020.

“How wouldn’t it make people feel safer if you’ve committed a serious crime to be where you’re put?” said Nicole, who did not want to give her last name.

“You put yourself there for the crime you committed.”