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The DSA doth protest too much.
A revived push to stop the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group from policing protests could spark a war between Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s progressive City Council allies and moderate lawmakers such as Speaker Julie Menin, The Post has learned.
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Firebrand lefty Councilman Chi Ossé (D-Brooklyn) plans to reintroduce a bill – which he quietly pulled after last week’s failed Gracie Mansion terror attack – flatly prohibiting SRG units from policing protests, parade and other free speech events, sources said.
The bill would be a win for Ossé’s fellow progressives and his fellow Democratic Socialists of America member Mamdani – who has publicly called for the full disbanding of the specialized group – but the council’s moderates aren’t on board, insiders said.
Menin, who didn’t back the bill last year, could simply kill it by not letting it get to the council’s floor – an outcome welcomed police unions.
“This bill should be an absolute non-starter,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry told The Post.
“Any restriction on the NYPD’s ability to deploy the appropriate number and type of police personnel to a volatile situation, puts both cops and the public unnecessarily at risk,” he said.
“The risks we warned of were on full display this past weekend, and no waiting period will erase them,” Hendry added, referring to the attempted bombing during an anti-Muslim demonstration and dueling counter-protest outside the mayoral residence Saturday.
Detectives’ Endowment Association President Scott Munro railed against pols making cops’ jobs “more difficult, wishing the lawmakers would just “get out of the way.”
“We don’t care about politics,” he said, adding, “We care about saving lives and protecting our members.”
The SRG has long been a bugbear for progressives, who argue the unit regularly deploys brutal tactics that trample protesters’ rights.
The unit’s defenders, such as NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, argued it plays a vital part in preventing protests from devolving into violence.
On the campaign trail last year, Mamdani repeatedly called to get rid of the unit, trained for counter-terrorism and protest response, contending they have no place in First Amendment-protected demonstrations.
The freshman mayor has maintained his stance even after last weekend’s failed bombing outside the mayoral residence.
The SRG was stationed a few blocks away from Gracie Mansion, backing up the NYPD’s Community Affairs Unit during a pair of demonstrations – an anti-Muslim rally organized by a vile bigot and a counter-protest.
Two self-radicalized Pennsylvania teens — who chillingly pledged allegiance to ISIS — allegedly hurled a homemade bomb into the crowd and were quickly arrested, police said.
The IED turned out to be a dud — but police officials said if it had gone off, it could have created a mass casualty event.
Ibraham Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18, have since been charged and are being held by the feds.
Ossé quietly pulled his anti-SRG bill after the wannabe terror attack — believing pushing it so soon could be politically fraught, sources said.
But the democratic socialist has since told other council members he plans to revive the measure in the coming weeks, betting that once the immediate outrage over Gracie fades, he can get more support for his controversial bill.
Ossé did not respond to The Post’s inquiries about why he withdrew the bill and if a new proposal would have any changes.
A previous version of the bill introduced by Ossé in January 2025 went after some of the NYPD’s most contentious crowd control tactics.
The proposal drew 23 co-sponsors, most of them progressives — but it never received a hearing in the Council’s Public Safety Committee.
In addition to limiting SRG deployment, the bill would have banned “kettling,” which has officers surround demonstrators and block escape routes, barred the use of tear gas and pepper spray for crowd control and prohibited officers from using bicycles to hit protesters.
It further proposed to restrict the use of super loud sound devices used to dispel crowds, and to require public reporting on arrests and use of force at protests.
Police unions at the time blasted the plan as a gift to agitators that would handcuff cops and make it harder to keep protests from spinning out of control. They argued that stripping SRG of protest duties and outlawing crowd control tools would make it difficult for officers to manage large, volatile crowds.
Supporters framed it as both a curb on police overreach and a safeguard for free speech rights. Ossé, a frequent NYPD critic, argued the bill was a necessary response to documented abuses by cops at demonstrations and insisted police would still be able to arrest people who commit crimes.
Ossé and Mamdani are both DSA members, but had a falling out largely over the Brooklyn lawmaker’s flirtation with a primary challenge to Hakeem Jeffries that Mamdani aggressively opposed.
The NYPD did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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