For a while, the NYPD seemed up to the task of keeping the mean streets of the nation’s most populous city relatively safe.
But as the impact of progressively radical leftist leaders continues to build, new questions are emerging about who it is exactly that the police are serving and protecting.
One glaring example came in the form of a troubling social media post that appeared to show a pair of uniformed NYPD cops flashing gang signs alongside an apparent civilian at a fast-food restaurant.
The backlash was swift, as the New York Post reported:
One officer points his fingers down in the image, crossing his middle finger over his ring finger — the calling card of the Mac Baller Brims.
The other cop also flashes an apparent gang sign, bending back his index finger and holding his other three fingers out.
Lawyer and former NYPD officer Eric Sanders said the signs were authentic.
“Those are Mac Baller Brim signs,” he said. “Those cops need to be modified.” He was referring to disciplining the cops by putting them on desk duty, or “modified” assignment.
Retired NYPD Assistant Commissioner of Youth Strategies Kevin O’Connor agreed the cops were trying to make gang signs, but not doing it very well.
“It looks like they’re trying to make Blood signs,” he said. “The one on the right is trying to make the Mac Baller sign.
”You have to look at the context of the picture,” he said. “The kid is in blue so were they messing around with him?” The Bloods embrace the color red, and their archrivals, the Crips, use blue.
Whether it was a misguided joke or something more sinister, social media users were similarly incensed by the display:
I thought they banned law enforcement from wearing masks. If they are gang members or thugs it’s ok I guess.
Once the criminals are the cops and mayor it’s over for the city.
— Lvl 99 Libtard End Boss (@Investor4201) May 24, 2026
Fire them immediately. DEI dorks.
— Richard Suazo (@rsuazo524) May 24, 2026
To be fair, it’s not the first time something along these lines has appeared on social media:
NYPD cop taunts gang member by throwing up rival gang signs pic.twitter.com/3ix7fRy2AS
— Cops Gone Wrong (@CopsGoneWrong) December 1, 2024
And in the age of AI, plenty of commenters suggested the photo is fake.
But the Post’s report indicates NYPD is investigating the incident, which comes under the watch of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The socialist mayor ran on a campaign that involved eliminating the city’s gang database, though as the New York Daily News reported, he has somewhat backed away from that goal since entering office:
The mayor on the campaign trail called the database a “vast dragnet” and said his administration wouldn’t use the database. But he has moderated that position since taking office.
“I’ve made my critiques of the database clear, and the NYPD has also implemented a number of reforms as per the recommendation that came through,” Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference on Monday. “And the implementation of those reforms, the results of that are part of the active discussion that we’re having.”
ADVERTISEMENTThe reforms he referenced were announced in October 2025, and included changes such as notifying the parents and guardians of minors whose names are entered into the database of thousands of people suspected of being gang members.
Here’s a deeper look at the changes Mamdani has promised to bring to the city’s police force:
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