July 24, 2025 • 8 mins
Michael Sapraicone talks with Mendte in the Morning about the safety of NYC and his worries for the city if Zohran Mamdani wins the Mayoral election.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There's this great article on the New York Sun that
I recommend you read. It's written by Michael Sapracone. It
is titled Mom Donnie threatening to dismantle policing achievements that
make New York City livable pushes a Department of Community Safety.
It's a wonderful article. It's getting a lot of play
(00:21):
and a lot of accolades as well. And we're pleased
to have Michael Sapracone here. He ran for US Senate.
He's a New York retired NYPD first class detective and
he is a security expert. Wonderful article. I want to
get to it in a second, but before we do,
I just want to quickly talk about this nutjob from SOHO,
(00:42):
Michael Gan, who was building bombs on his rooftop. It
seems like everybody knew about it. The bombs look ridiculous.
It was like something out of a road Runner movie, Michael.
But you know, NYPD moved in quickly. They got him,
so he's not at The guys I'm worried about are
the ones we don't know about.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Oh, good morning, Larry, how are you good morning?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I'm doing well.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Well.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
There's a lot of them out there, But you'd be
surprised how many people we do know about that the
public might not know about. Okay, the Intel and the
MYPD is terrific secret service. I'm sure picked up on
this right away once he started getting on Trump's ex account.
So there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes
that we may never hear, and how many things will
stopped because of the great job by law enforcement in
(01:30):
this country and the city. So it's always you have
to always be fearful, but you can also rest assure
that someone has Most times it's on someone's radar and
their watching this, and I'm sure they were watching him
over the last three months or so. They had two
witnesses in Long Island that he had shown this stuff too.
Then there was a woman who actually saw him on
(01:50):
the roof six or seven times in the last three
months in Soho, so I'm sure they had followed up
on stuff. This is just we would call him in
the police department years ago. I don't know if it's
core of politically corrected anymore, but an emotionally disturbed person.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So there's a lot of them out there. There's a
lot of people.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
That we watched and this is I would say this
is certainly a lone wolf situation that.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
We concern ourselves more about.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
But I think the PD and the Secret Service and
the Bureau did a great job and making sure that
this didn't spread.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
One last question about this Michael, because he went to
buy all these explosives and he bought fuses and gaffer's
tape and the guy that sold it to him immediately
called the police. Is he required to do that or
is he just being a really great citizen.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I just think he's a really great citizen. Uh, And
that's what we need more.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
We need more.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Great citizens who care about this city, in this country
to do things. If you see something, say something. We've
been saying that for thirty years. As an old transit
Copple used to say, if you see something, say something,
and that's picked up throughout the years. But what I
find amazing is that you to just go on the
internet too and look these things up and buy anything
(02:59):
you want. That should be red flags every single time,
and we need to do something about that too.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
All right, let's talk about your great article. Thanks for
talking about this too, but let's talk about your great
article about Zorin Mom Donnie. It was fascinating, and you
see him if he becomes mayor you see it as
a real threat to New York.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Oh, certainly, I think you.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
On paper, a lot of the stuff he says looks reasonable,
but it's not proven results. The things he wants to
do with the Department of Community Safety, I mean, these
things have been tried in small towns in Oregon and
actually so it's not this morning. It was tried in
Kansas City and they've been nothing but disasters. But this
young man, you have to give him credit for running
(03:44):
a great campaign social media wise, but he has no
concept of what he's allowed to do and what.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
He can't do.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
And he's feeding into a group Larry of these younger
people eighteen to mid thirties who probably never voted before,
who are now starting to say, hey, he's right about
some of the things he's saying and not caring how
it can be done or if it can be done.
And he's gathering up momentum, which is a scary thing
for this city. We're gonna have a lot of issues
(04:12):
and a lot of problems. Listen, we can't replace police
with social workers.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
It will just never work.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
So many years of working in the subway or in
the police department, where I've seen things simple domestic situations
or homeless people go bad within a matter of seconds,
and it can't always be solved with a social worker.
I was in a situation at King's County Hospital forty
years ago or I arrested a person who was emotionally
(04:38):
disturbed swinging a baseball bat in East New York, saying
he was the say eight kid Willie Mays. The procedure
was to take him into King's County, into the g
building that was the place where they handle emotionally disturbed people,
and give him to the doctor and you would sit
with him.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
There was a young doctor who said, oh, officer, police uncuff.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Him and let him alone. He's fine. I insisted not
to do that. I said, it's really not the best policy.
She insisted to leave and close the doors. As soon
as I uncuffed them and closed the door, he jumped
up and he beat her senselessly, senselessly, And ever since
that day, I've realized that social workers do a great job,
(05:18):
but they're not prepared to handle and they're not trained
to handle with law enforcements handles.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
No, I agree with you, and it's insane to send
them out by themselves. I've talked to a lot of
police officers and brass over the years, and they don't
mind the idea of social workers helping them, but to
send them without a police officer, they say, would just
be insane. And as soon as the first one gets
killed or the first one dies, there goes that whole program.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I mean, public take isn't a social experiment, it's it's
a basic right we need and we need to. We
need to supplement the police. We certainly should have more
social workers to help and more outreach, but it can't
be the bottom line. It can't be the first responders.
We need to have armed war enforcement. I mean, look
at what goes on this subway every day. I mean,
I don't know where he's going to get the money
(06:10):
to do these things. He's going to keep taxing and
taxing the rich, and Hoppel has already said that's not
going to happen. So he's coming up with a lot
of ideas that people think sound terrific, but there's no
reality to most of these ideas.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And it's scary.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
It's scary that we could be facing this very much
in November again.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
You can see this at nysun dot com at The
New York Sun. You know who I'm really impressed with,
and I'm sure you are too, is Jessica Tish. I've
couldn't be more impressed with the job she's done as
police commission or is that the feeling among the police
rank and file.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I believe so.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It's a great, great job, a great person, a great leader.
And it's kind of funny to hear Mondami say, you
know he's considering her. If not to get consider her
would be ridiculous. Anybody who wins his matroial race not
to consider her would be totally crazy. But I can't
see her working with him. It would be something that
(07:11):
would just be ridiculous. I don't see any middle road
between his ideology about defunding the police and her ideology about.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Enforcing crimes and everything else.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
And I tell you, if it was up to me,
I would think she would be a great choice for
mayor here in New York.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I think that's coming. Yeah, I think that's coming. I
think you're onto something.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Well. I wish it would have came sooner than later now.
I mean, she would be a big answer to a
lot of things. I think she's great, very proud.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I wish I was still on the job, but I
think she's doing a great job, and I think she
will continue to do a great job. But there's no
doubt that we have some concerns here moving into this
November election and we have to figure this out and
figure out so hey, but.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Hey, Michael, was a pleasure to talk to you. It
is the first time we've had a chance to talk,
and thank you so much. I hope we get to
talk some more.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Well, great, Harry, thanks for having me. Have a great day.
There's this great article on the New York Sun that
I recommend you read. It's written by Michael Sapracone. It
is titled Mom Donnie threatening to dismantle policing achievements that
make New York City livable pushes a Department of Community Safety.
It's a wonderful article. It's getting a lot of play
(00:21):
and a lot of accolades as well. And we're pleased
to have Michael Sapracone here. He ran for US Senate.
He's a New York retired NYPD first class detective and
he is a security expert. Wonderful article. I want to
get to it in a second, but before we do,
I just want to quickly talk about this nutjob from SOHO,
(00:42):
Michael Gan, who was building bombs on his rooftop. It
seems like everybody knew about it. The bombs look ridiculous.
It was like something out of a road Runner movie, Michael.
But you know, NYPD moved in quickly. They got him,
so he's not at The guys I'm worried about are
the ones we don't know about.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Oh, good morning, Larry, how are you good morning?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I'm doing well.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Well.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
There's a lot of them out there, But you'd be
surprised how many people we do know about that the
public might not know about. Okay, the Intel and the
MYPD is terrific secret service. I'm sure picked up on
this right away once he started getting on Trump's ex account.
So there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes
that we may never hear, and how many things will
stopped because of the great job by law enforcement in
(01:30):
this country and the city. So it's always you have
to always be fearful, but you can also rest assure
that someone has Most times it's on someone's radar and
their watching this, and I'm sure they were watching him
over the last three months or so. They had two
witnesses in Long Island that he had shown this stuff too.
Then there was a woman who actually saw him on
(01:50):
the roof six or seven times in the last three
months in Soho, so I'm sure they had followed up
on stuff. This is just we would call him in
the police department years ago. I don't know if it's
core of politically corrected anymore, but an emotionally disturbed person.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So there's a lot of them out there. There's a
lot of people.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
That we watched and this is I would say this
is certainly a lone wolf situation that.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
We concern ourselves more about.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
But I think the PD and the Secret Service and
the Bureau did a great job and making sure that
this didn't spread.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
One last question about this Michael, because he went to
buy all these explosives and he bought fuses and gaffer's
tape and the guy that sold it to him immediately
called the police. Is he required to do that or
is he just being a really great citizen.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I just think he's a really great citizen. Uh, And
that's what we need more.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
We need more.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Great citizens who care about this city, in this country
to do things. If you see something, say something. We've
been saying that for thirty years. As an old transit
Copple used to say, if you see something, say something,
and that's picked up throughout the years. But what I
find amazing is that you to just go on the
internet too and look these things up and buy anything
(02:59):
you want. That should be red flags every single time,
and we need to do something about that too.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
All right, let's talk about your great article. Thanks for
talking about this too, but let's talk about your great
article about Zorin Mom Donnie. It was fascinating, and you
see him if he becomes mayor you see it as
a real threat to New York.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Oh, certainly, I think you.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
On paper, a lot of the stuff he says looks reasonable,
but it's not proven results. The things he wants to
do with the Department of Community Safety, I mean, these
things have been tried in small towns in Oregon and
actually so it's not this morning. It was tried in
Kansas City and they've been nothing but disasters. But this
young man, you have to give him credit for running
(03:44):
a great campaign social media wise, but he has no
concept of what he's allowed to do and what.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
He can't do.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
And he's feeding into a group Larry of these younger
people eighteen to mid thirties who probably never voted before,
who are now starting to say, hey, he's right about
some of the things he's saying and not caring how
it can be done or if it can be done.
And he's gathering up momentum, which is a scary thing
for this city. We're gonna have a lot of issues
(04:12):
and a lot of problems. Listen, we can't replace police
with social workers.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
It will just never work.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
So many years of working in the subway or in
the police department, where I've seen things simple domestic situations
or homeless people go bad within a matter of seconds,
and it can't always be solved with a social worker.
I was in a situation at King's County Hospital forty
years ago or I arrested a person who was emotionally
(04:38):
disturbed swinging a baseball bat in East New York, saying
he was the say eight kid Willie Mays. The procedure
was to take him into King's County, into the g
building that was the place where they handle emotionally disturbed people,
and give him to the doctor and you would sit
with him.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
There was a young doctor who said, oh, officer, police uncuff.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Him and let him alone. He's fine. I insisted not
to do that. I said, it's really not the best policy.
She insisted to leave and close the doors. As soon
as I uncuffed them and closed the door, he jumped
up and he beat her senselessly, senselessly, And ever since
that day, I've realized that social workers do a great job,
(05:18):
but they're not prepared to handle and they're not trained
to handle with law enforcements handles.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
No, I agree with you, and it's insane to send
them out by themselves. I've talked to a lot of
police officers and brass over the years, and they don't
mind the idea of social workers helping them, but to
send them without a police officer, they say, would just
be insane. And as soon as the first one gets
killed or the first one dies, there goes that whole program.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I mean, public take isn't a social experiment, it's it's
a basic right we need and we need to. We
need to supplement the police. We certainly should have more
social workers to help and more outreach, but it can't
be the bottom line. It can't be the first responders.
We need to have armed war enforcement. I mean, look
at what goes on this subway every day. I mean,
I don't know where he's going to get the money
(06:10):
to do these things. He's going to keep taxing and
taxing the rich, and Hoppel has already said that's not
going to happen. So he's coming up with a lot
of ideas that people think sound terrific, but there's no
reality to most of these ideas.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And it's scary.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
It's scary that we could be facing this very much
in November again.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
You can see this at nysun dot com at The
New York Sun. You know who I'm really impressed with,
and I'm sure you are too, is Jessica Tish. I've
couldn't be more impressed with the job she's done as
police commission or is that the feeling among the police
rank and file.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I believe so.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It's a great, great job, a great person, a great leader.
And it's kind of funny to hear Mondami say, you
know he's considering her. If not to get consider her
would be ridiculous. Anybody who wins his matroial race not
to consider her would be totally crazy. But I can't
see her working with him. It would be something that
(07:11):
would just be ridiculous. I don't see any middle road
between his ideology about defunding the police and her ideology about.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Enforcing crimes and everything else.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
And I tell you, if it was up to me,
I would think she would be a great choice for
mayor here in New York.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I think that's coming. Yeah, I think that's coming. I
think you're onto something.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Well. I wish it would have came sooner than later now.
I mean, she would be a big answer to a
lot of things. I think she's great, very proud.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I wish I was still on the job, but I
think she's doing a great job, and I think she
will continue to do a great job. But there's no
doubt that we have some concerns here moving into this
November election and we have to figure this out and
figure out so hey, but.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Hey, Michael, was a pleasure to talk to you. It
is the first time we've had a chance to talk,
and thank you so much. I hope we get to
talk some more.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Well, great, Harry, thanks for having me. Have a great day.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.