Mamdani's new safety advisor confessed serious pill addiction, turned to ex-NBA star for help
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s pick for his community safety transition team battled a spiraling pill addiction that she claims at one point hit as many as 20-30 pills...
By Fox News · Fox News
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s pick for his community safety transition team battled a spiraling pill addiction that she claims at one point hit as many as 20-30 pills a day. Activist Tamika Mallory, who will help shape public safety policy for the incoming mayor, revealed earlier this year that she struggled with a serious dependency on prescription drugs before entering rehab. She recounted her addiction while promoting her memoir, "I Lived to Tell the Story," describing how she relied on the pills while holding a leadership position at the helm of national protest movements. Mallory also turned for help to former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams, who now works in recovery and trauma services. MAMDANI-APPOINTED NYC PROFESSOR WHO WROTE BOOK ON ENDING POLICING NOW TASKED WITH SHAPING COMMUNITY SAFETY In one interview on " The Breakfast Club ," she recalled calling Williams while pretending she was seeking guidance for a friend before he confronted her and urged her to get real help. "When I first contacted Jayson Williams, the NBA All-Star, you know, he is in the healing space after all the things we know he went through," she said. "My first contact with him, I was kind of like, 'Hey, my friend is going through something, what can you tell me?' "He let me do that two times — two, three calls. By the third call, he was like, 'Sis, I already know what it is. It's all good'." In another February appearance on " The Angie Martinez Show ," Mallory traced the beginnings of her addiction to stress, public pressure and a friend’s offer of Xanax. MAMDANI APPOINTS CONVICTED ARMED ROBBER TO PUBLIC SAFETY TRANSITION TEAM "I cut them in half and started taking them. And then, the next thing you know, I learned that Percocets were even better, and I started taking those," Mallory described. "And then I was up to 20 to 30 pills a day. I was sitting at dinner with a group of girls one night, and this young lady, had she been through it. She was like, 'You know, it's a dar…