New York City’s top cop is staying put.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday morning that Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has agreed to remain in charge of the NYPD as the new regime takes office on Jan. 1. The announcement ends weeks of public speculation regarding Tisch’s future, and repeated public statements from the new mayor that he wanted to retain her as the city’s top cop.
Mamdani cited both Tisch’s commitment to lowering crime and her efforts to tackle department corruption as major factors in his decision to have her stay.
“I look forward to working with Commissioner Jessica Tisch to deliver genuine public safety in New York City. 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,” Mamdani said.“Together, we will deliver a city where rank-and-file police officers and the communities they serve alike are safe, represented, and proud to call New York their home.”
Tisch said she is ready to “serve with honor” as the new mayor’s police commissioner, and that she shares with him “many of the same public safety goals.”
“Thanks to the men and women of the NYPD, the strategies we deployed this year have delivered historic reductions in crime,” Commissioner Tisch said. “I’ve spoken to Mayor-elect Mamdani several times, and I’m ready to serve with honor as his Police Commissioner. 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 was first appointed to the role just under a year ago by Mayor Eric Adams; she was his fourth police commissioner in as many years. Upon taking office, Tisch — a former Sanitation commissioner under Adams and Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology under Mayor Bill de Blasio — immediately rearranged department insiders, and removed those with a questionable history.
Mayor Adams himself released a lengthy statement, in which he appeared to give Mamdani a backhanded compliment by stating that his decision to retain her also acknowledges Adams’ contributions to public safety.
“Commissioner Tisch, like her predecessors before her, has continued that stellar work and is implementing the policies and initiatives the Adams administration has pushed for four years. She was a star at the Sanitation Department and has done incredible work at the NYPD. In choosing her to stay on as police commissioner, Mayor-elect Mamdani is recognizing our public-safety efforts were right and that they will continue into the future. We all want a safer city, and keeping Commissioner Tisch in place and supporting our police officers every day with the policies we have implemented is exactly how we do that,” part of Adams’ statement read.
According to NYPD data, Tisch has overseen a historic drop in crime under her short tenure, including the fewest reported shootings in the first ten months of the year, a 10% drop in murders, and the removal of nearly 5,000 illegal firearms.
Tisch will likely play an instrumental role as Mayor-elect Mamdani works to establish a campaign promise: the Department of Community Safety, an agency that would concentrate of mental health issues and other quality-of-life matters. Mamdani has said this agency would shift away those duties from the NYPD and allow “New York’s Finest” to concentrate more on crime-fighting.
Several police unions also championed her decision to stay, starting with PBA president Patrick Hendry, who stated that he feels Tisch will bring stability to the new administration.
“We are very glad to hear that there will be stability and continuity in the NYPD’s leadership going forward. Commissioner Tisch understands all of the many challenges police officers face on the streets and has been working productively with us to address them. We look forward to continuing that work in the months ahead,” Hendry said.
The union for police sergeants, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, President Vincent Vallelong, also weighed in, expressing optimism about the future with Tisch at the helm.
“Based upon her proven track record over the past year, we are optimistic that Commissioner Tisch will continue to keep public safety moving in the right direction, which starts with supporting the brave men and women, who serve on the frontlines every day to keep our city safe. But to do her job effectively, she will need to receive that same support from the new administration as well,”Vallelong said.
Scott Munro, President of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, went even further still, adding that “This is a great day for New York City Detectives, the NYPD, and the citizens we are proud to serve. Commissioner Tisch will lead us through the challenges we will face. Thank you, Commissioner!”
Still, some remain skeptical. The family of Delrawn Small, an unarmed Brooklyn man shot dead by an off-duty cop, and some elected officials are demanding Tisch continue to address corruption and uphold charges against the cop responsible.
“There’s been a lot of talk about her efforts to clean up the NYPD, and this is a very clear test right here. This is a line in the sand, and this is an opportunity to remove someone who clearly cannot do his job and did not do his job and actually murdered someone in front of his family,” Brooklyn Council Member Sandy Nurse said.
