Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, a key holdover for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is now at the center of a federal lawsuit that could hit City Hall where it hurts: the NYPD’s inner workings and its pension rules.
Tisch is named in a Manhattan federal complaint filed May 26, 2026, that accuses her and an NYPD aide of pushing out a longtime sergeant and denying an administrative “821” waiver that he says cost him thousands in retirement dollars. The suit claims roughly $36,000 a year in lost pension benefits. The former sergeant, Howard Singer, retired in early January after a stint as a senior City Hall adviser last year, and the dispute arrives as Mamdani navigates early personnel controversies at the NYPD.
The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, names Tisch and Ryan Merola as defendants and says Singer was denied a new 821 waiver in late 2025. Singer’s attorneys say the complaint was prepared with help from veteran lawyer Randy Mastro, and the filing seeks compensation tied to the lost pension income. The complaint also quotes internal messages described in the suit as evidence of animus. As reported by Politico, the case is now pending in federal court in Manhattan…