NYC Local News: Tisch to Stay on as Police Commissioner in Mamdani Administration

Jessica Tisch to Remain NYPD Police Commissioner Under Mamdani

 

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that he will appoint Jessica Tisch as his police commissioner, continuing her tenure that began under Mayor Eric Adams. They have differing views on some public safety issues but she has support across the political spectrum. 

This article originally appeared in The City.

By Yoav Gonen

Manhattan Voice

November 20, 2025

NYC LOCAL NEWS - NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday that she’s staying at the helm of the police department in the administration of incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

Tisch, who was appointed commissioner by Mayor Eric Adams in November 2024, is maintaining the role despite some positions on public safety that differ sharply from her boss-to-be — including critical statements on bail reform and the state’s “raise the age” law.

“I’ve spoken to Mayor-elect Mamdani several times, and I’m ready to serve with honor as his Police Commissioner,” she said in a statement. “That’s because he and I share many of the same public safety goals for New York City: lowering crime, making communities safer, rooting out corruption, and giving our officers the tools, support, and resources they need to carry out their noble work.”

Tisch has pointed to state reform laws as one reason why crime has spiked periodically in recent years, and has advocated for lowering the age of responsibility for criminal behavior to include 16- and 17-year-olds.

Under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Mamdani defeated in both the primary and general election, state lawmakers restricted the circumstances under which those teens could be charged as adults starting in 2019.

The planned reappointment of Adams’ last police commissioner mirrors the approach that progressive mayor Bill de Blasio took to policing in 2014, when he appointed Bill Bratton — a former commissioner for conservative Mayor Rudy Giuliani — to head the NYPD.

De Blasio’s bid to install a commissioner respected by conservatives and the business community didn’t shield him from criticism from within and without the department, however. In December of his first year as mayor, NYPD officers turned their backs on him at funerals for officers killed in a targeted shooting, claiming his critical rhetoric on policing had contributed to an atmosphere that was hostile to police in the wake of the NYPD killing of Eric Garner earlier that year. 

Mamdani came under fire during the Democratic primary and general election for his past comments on the NYPD, including joining the “defund” movement in 2020 and referring to the department as “racist.” He apologized for those statements repeatedly during the campaign, including last month.

Mamdani has offered solutions on public safety that have received criticism from safety watchdogs. Among them is a pledge to disband a unit that’s responsible for policing protests, known as the Strategic Response Group, that has garnered a reputation for aggressive actions. 

He has also vowed to launch a Department of Community Safety to focus on preventing violence, and shift the response to certain situations, including for people in mental distress, away from the police department. Adams and other policing officials have warned about the risks to social workers who respond to volatile situations without the presence of police officers. 

Mamdani justified his appointment of Tisch Wednesday by pointing to her track record after one year as commissioner, during a time period when crime has dropped significantly on a national scale.

His transition team pointed to a nearly 20% drop in murders citywide year to date compared to last year, and reductions in six of the seven major crime categories.

“I look forward to working with Commissioner Jessica Tisch to deliver genuine public safety in New York City,” said Mamdani. “I have admired her work cracking down on corruption in the upper echelons of the police department, driving down crime in New York City, and standing up for New Yorkers in the face of authoritarianism.”

Adams, who is a retired NYPD officer, appointed Tisch as his fourth police commissioner at a time of significant chaos within the department. 

Former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban resigned in September 2024 after the FBI confiscated his and his twin brother’s phones as part of a probe reportedly eying nightclub shakedowns. In December 2024, within weeks of Tisch’s appointment, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey abruptly resigned after a subordinate accused him of coercing sexual favors in return for exorbitant overtime opportunities.

The interim commissioner prior to Tisch, Thomas Donlon, is suing Adams and other officials, alleging that they conspired to run the department as a racketeering enterprise for their own benefit.

Other Adams appointees who were working on public safety, including senior advisor Tim Pearson and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, also resigned amid federal investigations last fall.