Should NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch serve under a mayor Mamdani? Yes, if …
Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is planning on asking NYPD
Commissioner Jessica Tisch to remain in her role if he is elected. Déjà vu all over again? That’s what it could feel like for NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch if she’s asked to stay on under a Mayor Zohran Mamdani administration.
I’ve been there. In 2014, when I returned for my second tenure as police commissioner under Mayor Bill de Blasio, I walked straight into an administration skeptical of the profession I love.
We had officers insulted by campaign ads and a candidate who made it clear he was going to “fix” the NYPD.
Back then, “reform” was the buzzword. We were told the NYPD had to change how it policed — not just in tactics, but in philosophy. So we adapted. We refined stop-question-and-frisk. We invested in neighborhood policing. We re-trained 20,000 officers in de-escalation. We hired thousands more officers. And we modernized a department still running on 20th-century technology (an initiative led by then-Deputy Commissioner Tisch).
But make no mistake: those changes were driven by data, by experience, and by respect for both community and cop — not by ideology.
If Jessica Tisch finds herself serving under Mayor Mamdani, she may be fighting that ideology even with the facts on her side. And there are plenty of reasons for concern.
From both of my tenures as commissioner, I can confidently say the NYPD is currently short about 3,000 officers. Mamdani has made it clear he doesn’t intend to hire more. Commissioner Tisch has already righted the ship and put the city back on course to being the safest big city in America once again.
Imagine how much more successful she could be with 3,000 additional cops — the same headcount I had during 2014–2016, when New York was markedly safer.
She would also find herself battling to preserve two critical units — the Strategic Response Group and the Critical Response Command.
Sources close to Mamdani confirmed that the Democratic socialist and Tisch have spoken about her staying on as commissioner.
These are not bureaucratic creations; they are lifesaving ones. The units allow NYPD leadership to rally hundreds of officers at a moment’s notice anywhere in the city, whether to keep protests safe or, as we saw recently on Park Avenue, to confront an active shooter. These highly trained officers run toward danger when others run away.
The city can’t — and shouldn’t — do without them.
Another deeply troubling proposal is Mamdani’s stated desire to remove disciplinary authority from the police commissioner and hand it to the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
There isn’t a police leader in America who would endorse that disastrous idea — unless their goal is to make cops stop working out of fear of being second-guessed by people who know little about NYPD policy or policing realities.
Commissioner Tisch has proven to be a capable, data-driven reformer. She understands that technology, transparency, and accountability strengthen policing.
But under Mamdani, she could be asked to do the impossible: lead the nation’s largest police department while being undermined by the very person elected to lead the city — and by the ideologues he appoints to City Hall.
From 2014 to 2016, we made New York City safer than ever despite the politics. We drove murders and shootings to record lows while laying the groundwork for reforms that made the NYPD more transparent and connected than ever before.
But that was only possible because, despite our differences, there was still a line that those in City Hall wouldn’t cross. Decisions on policing were always made in consultation with the experts at 1 Police Plaza, never in a vacuum.
But that was only possible because, despite our differences, there was still a line that those in City Hall wouldn’t cross.
If Jessica Tisch stays on, she’ll need more than data dashboards and strategic plans — she’ll need a backbone of steel. She’ll have to protect her officers from being vilified, her department from being hollowed out, and the city from sliding backward.
If Mr. Mamdani is smart, he’ll ask Jessica Tisch to remain as commissioner.
If he truly cares about New York City, he must listen to her counsel on how to keep it safe.
She should take the job to keep New York safe if he meets her conditions — but be ready to leave if he undermines her.
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