NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch is willing to remain in her post under Zohran Mamdani as long as the progressive mayor-elect allows her to keep pursuing her agenda, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Tisch hasn’t publicly commented on Mamdani’s announcement late last month that he would keep her in the role. But behind closed doors, she has said that she wants assurances that she can keep working on bringing down crime if she stays in the post, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations were private.
“As I’ve said many times, it is not appropriate for the Police Commissioner to be directly involved or to seem to be involved in electoral politics,” Tisch said in a response to questions about her plans.
The decision by the newly elected Mamdani — an advocate for police reform who has plans to change some of the responsibilities of the NYPD — has fueled questions over whether Tisch would want to serve under the self-proclaimed democratic socialist. Mamdani’s relationship with law enforcement was scrutinized on the campaign trial, and he publicly apologized for previous comments he made referring to the NYPD as “racist, anti-queer” and a threat to public safety.
His views are already spurring movement. Earlier Wednesday, New York City’s Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker wrote in a letter to Mayor Eric Adams that he would be stepping down ahead of Mamdani taking office. A person with knowledge of the matter said his reason for doing so is because of Mamdani’s position against Israel.
A spokeswoman for Mamdani didn’t return a request for comment on Tisch or Tucker. Earlier Wednesday, he told reporters that he was looking forward to speaking with Tisch.
Members of the business community have pressed Mamdani on keeping Tisch, who almost a year ago took over a department roiled by turnover at the highest ranks and has been applauded for the leadership she’s brought to the force. Under her tenure this year, crime is down across every major category except rape, and shooting incidents are at their lowest levels in recorded history.
“Public safety is the number one fiscal stimulus,” Jim Zelter, president of Apollo Global Management Inc., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “There’s a lot of concerns about the campaign and what was said about public safety,” he said.
Mamdani’s decision to keep Tisch in her role was an important signal of his willingness to pick the best person for the job regardless of their ideological alignment, said Kevin Ryan, chief executive officer of venture firm AlleyCorp.
With Tisch, “everyone will feel like the police will be continuing to operate effectively,” Ryan said by phone.
Mamdani has faced questions from his base over Tisch, who has blamed some of New York’s criminal justice reforms for the spike in crime in recent years. In an interview with news outlet Hell Gate, Mamdani said he believes Tisch has been following the directive of Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, and that under Mamdani’s leadership “everyone will follow my lead. I’ll be the mayor.”
Mamdani, who on the campaign trail backed away from his prior calls to “defund” the police, plans on building a department of community safety that will oversee some of the functions currently housed within the NYPD. As a state legislator he backed bail reform, and as mayor, wants to disband the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, a small unit that responds to fast-moving incidents including protests. He supports keeping the NYPD at its current size, while Tisch supports growing it.
People close to Tisch say the differences between her and Mamdani aren’t insurmountable. Mamdani has repeatedly praised her record, citing her efforts to root out corruption within the NYPD and reduce crime.
A longtime city official and scion of the billionaire Tisch family, Jessica Tisch was appointed commissioner in November 2024 by Adams, who dropped his reelection bid in September amid declining poll numbers.
Though she never served as a uniformed police officer, Tisch, 44, started her career in counterterrorism with the NYPD after earning her JD/MBA degree from Harvard University. She went on to work in a number of roles in city government, including leading the Department of Sanitation before being tapped to oversee the police.
Several members of the Tisch family donated to Fix the City, a PAC supporting Mamdani’s challenger Andrew Cuomo. Together, their donations exceed $1 million.
Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, also contributed to Fix the City and anti-Mamdani PAC For Our City, and endorsed Cuomo in the general election.
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