Additional Coverage:
- Jessica Tisch accepts Mamdani offer to stay as NYPD commissioner (abcnews.go.com)
NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani Keeps Commissioner Tisch on Board for Continuity in Public Safety
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is set to welcome a familiar face to his administration when he officially steps into office this January. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Wednesday that she has accepted Mamdani’s offer to continue in her role, ensuring a degree of continuity in the city’s public safety leadership as Mamdani succeeds Mayor Eric Adams.
The decision comes after Mamdani, 34, indicated late in his mayoral campaign that he would not replace the commissioner if elected. He cited the notable decrease in shootings, murders, and transit crime across the city since Tisch, 44, began her tenure as commissioner in November 2024.
“I’ve spoken to Mayor-elect Mamdani several times, and I’m ready to serve with honor as his Police Commissioner,” Tisch stated. “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.”
Mamdani echoed similar sentiments, stating, “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.”
While Mamdani has previously voiced concerns about the NYPD and has apologized for past criticisms of the force, both he and Commissioner Tisch acknowledge areas of disagreement. In a department-wide email on Wednesday morning, Tisch addressed these differences head-on.
“Now, do the Mayor-elect and I agree on everything? No, we don’t,” Tisch wrote in the email, which was obtained by ABC News.
“But in speaking with him, it’s clear that we share broad and crucial priorities: the importance of public safety, the need to continue driving down crime, and the need to maintain stability and order across the department. We also agree that you deserve the city’s respect and support.”
Tisch further emphasized her commitment to robust discussion and advocacy for the department. “I appreciate that the Mayor-elect wants a team with different points of view – a team where ideas and policies are debated on their merits.
In those discussions, you can trust that I will be a fierce advocate for you and for this department. You know how I operate: I don’t mince words.
When I say something, I mean it. And that is not going to change.”
Tisch’s career in city government spans several administrations. The daughter of James Tisch, CEO of the Loews Corporation, she served in various roles within the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau starting in 2008, including intelligence research specialist and director of policy and planning. In 2014, under Mayor Bill de Blasio, she was appointed deputy commissioner of Information Technology, where she spearheaded improvements in the department’s technological capabilities, including its CompStat tracking system.
Before her current role, Mayor Eric Adams appointed her as sanitation commissioner in 2022. She became NYPD Commissioner in November 2024, following the resignation of Edward Caban and a brief interim period with Thomas Donlon. Tisch is the second woman to hold the position, following Keechant Sewell.
Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, who opted not to seek re-election, praised Tisch’s continued service. “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,” Adams said in a statement.
The decision signals a commitment to maintaining stability and building upon current public safety strategies as New York City transitions to new leadership.
Read More About This Story:
- Jessica Tisch accepts Mamdani offer to stay as NYPD commissioner (abcnews.go.com)