The inauguration bash for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani — who once called cops “wicked” and was a strident police defunder — will require a phalanx of between 350 and 400 officers, sources told The Post.

“It’s going to cost a lot of money in overtime,” said a cop with more than 25 years on the job. “He’s having this celebration with all these people who hate the police and we have to be there to protect them.”

If each police officer makes about $100 an hour for overtime – with some detectives, lieutenants and chiefs making much more – the detail could cost upwards of a half million dollars, a source estimated.

About 350 cops will be tapped for Mamdani’s New Year’s Day block party security detail, police sources said. Stephen Yang for the NY Post

The “Inauguration for a New Era Block Party” will run seven blocks, from Liberty Street to Murray Street on Thursday — a stretch known as the Canyon of Heroes that is typically used for ticker-tape parades.

“It’s ironic that he wants to spend all this money using city services while saying he wants to cut the budget of the NYPD,” a second law enforcement source said. “I think it goes to show how naive he is.”

Mamdani has been a harsh critic of New York’s Finest and called for defunding them during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests while describing officers as “racist” and “anti-queer.”

Police sources say the new mayor is being a hypocrite for requiring so many cops for his party on Jan. 1. Paul Martinka

He’s also called the NYPD “wicked and corrupt.”

The nepo-baby backed off on those claims during his run for mayor, but that didn’t stop him from tapping a lefty political strategist to oversee his transition team who is an impassioned supporter of the anti-cop movement.

Elena Leopold, executive director of an all-female transition team, was among the more than 230 past and present staffers of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio who signed a June 2020 “open letter” to de Blasio demanding “radical change” on criminal justice policies — especially at the NYPD.

Mamdani has also vowed not to hire any new police officers despite the Force being stretched thin. The NYPD hovers around 33,000 to 34,000 police officers, far lower than its peak of more than 40,000 in 2000.

Mamdani will be sworn into office at Midnight at City Hall. REUTERS

Police officers will have to be taken off patrol to serve on the party’s security detail and some detectives will likely be taken away from the cases they are investigating, the source explained.

“I don’t think he’s aware of where the police department is in terms of staffing levels,” said the source. “They’ll take detectives away from the important work they’re doing to work this event.”

The holiday is already a huge strain on department resources, a longtime NYPD officer pointed out.

“That many cops on New Year’s Day is a huge hit because you already have a detail of thousands working the ball drop,” the cop said. “And the precincts are all upstaffed on that night because it’s a very busy night.”

The security detail requirement comes despite the new mayor’s past criticisms of the department. AFP via Getty Images

The incoming mayor should consider an alternative, the source proposed.

“Why didn’t you staff it with social workers and violence interruptors?” the source joked, referring to the new mayor’s plans to replace cops with social workers on some emergency responses.

“It’s bad optics from the average person’s point of view,” the source added. “He’s coming in and he’s the man of the people but the first thing he does is throw himself a party.”

Mamdani has vowed not to hire any new police officers and to use social workers instead on some calls. Rush – stock.adobe.com

A retired sergeant wondered if Mamdani would use the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group to provide security for his party. The unit’s officers police large events and was a target of the left earlier this year after shutting down anti-Israel demonstrations on Columbia University’s campus.

“I’m sure it’s going to be expensive,” the source said. “What will be interesting is if the NYPD’s SRG unit will be working it because we know he has targeted that unit for dismissal.”

Some critics said the NYPD will be stretched thin with the ball drop on New Year’s Eve followed by the block party. 4kclips – stock.adobe.com

The city’s Sanitation Department said it expects to deploy around 50 workers to handle the bash, and insisted the additional staffing is not a “taxpayer expense.”

“Cleaning after public services is a not a cost – it is a budgeted service,” spokesman Joshua Goodman said. The NYPD did not respond to questions about cost estimates and Mamdani’s transition team did not return messages.