Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani said during Wednesday’s mayoral debate that he would keep NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch if elected, confirming reporting from the New York Times earlier in the day.
The decision puts Mamdani at odds with some progressive allies who expected him to chart a more radical break from the Eric Adams administration. Tisch has led the department since late 2024, when Adams appointed her following a stretch of leadership turmoil at the NYPD that included two of her predecessors stepping down.
“Commissioner Tisch took on a broken status quo, started to deliver accountability, rooting out corruption and reducing crime across the five boroughs,” Mamdani said during the debate.
Advocates for police reform reacted swiftly. Alex Vitale, a Brooklyn College professor and advisor to Mamdani’s campaign, warned the choice could jeopardize Mamdani’s plan to create a new department focused on mental health and community safety outside the NYPD.
“With her running the NYPD, the NYPD is going to stymie his initiatives,” Vitale said.
City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán from Queens, a close ally of Mamdani, struck an optimistic tone about Tisch remaining commissioner.
“I will continue to expect from a Police Commissioner: transparency, accountability, and the abandonment of failed policies that target those who are poor, struggling with homelessness, substance use disorder and mental illness,” she said.
Business leaders had reportedly lobbied Mamdani to keep Tisch, whose wealthy family has donated to groups opposing his campaign.
Tisch declined to comment Wednesday night.
Tisch and Mamdani have sparred in the past over criminal justice reform — a subject Mamdani has repeatedly praised her for engaging on, even when they disagree.
Tisch has rejected the idea that the pandemic caused the city’s spike in crime, blaming instead the state’s 2020 bail reform laws, which eliminated cash bail for most non-violent offenses. She has said those reforms, combined with a growing mental health crisis, led to a sustained rise in crime. Mamdani, by contrast, often cites studies showing that crime increased after the pandemic even in states that did not change their bail laws.
Tisch has also criticized Raise the Age, a 2018 state law that reduced criminal penalties for minors. Mamdani has defended the policy, saying it has not been fully implemented.
Despite those policy differences, Mamdani has consistently praised Tisch’s focus on rooting out corruption and improving public safety and has long signaled he was open to keeping her in the role.
During her previous stint leading the city sanitation department, she also rolled out the city’s trash containerization effort and led Adams’ high-profile “war on rats.”
Charles Lane
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