New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing increasing pressure from some on the leftmost flank of his voting coalition, and an ICE shooting Thursday led democratic socialist allies to add their voices to a major demand: dump police commissioner Jessica Tisch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NYPD\u2019s Strategic Response Group must be disbanded as quickly as possible, and Commissioner Tisch must step down,\u201d said<\/a> Darializa Avila Chevalier, who won her Democratic primary with Mamdani\u2019s endorsement. The democratic socialist, who is expected to join Congress next year representing Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, was referring to the heavily armed police department unit that often responds to protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another 17 democratic socialist elected officials and nominees \u2014 including congressional nominee Claire Valdez \u2014 signed a letter<\/a> Friday which stated that Tisch \u201cmust end police assistance for ICE operations and disband NYPD\u2019s Strategic Response Group \u2014 and if she won\u2019t, she must be fired.\u201d<\/p>\n The calls for Tisch\u2019s removal follow strident criticism of the mayor<\/a> from pro-Palestinian activists on Wednesday night who called him names, including \u201ctraitor\u201d and \u201cZiohran,\u201d when he showed up at an Oct. 7 Israeli peace vigil mourning the loss of both Jewish and Palestinian lives. The demonstrators assailed him for not doing more to advance the pro-Palestinian agenda that has long been central to his political beliefs, raising questions over whether he could lose parts of his base as he pledges to be a mayor for all New Yorkers.<\/p>\n The demand for Tisch\u2019s removal came after an ICE agent shot and wounded a Dominican man in his car on Thursday afternoon while his 5-year-old son was in the back seat. Avila Chevalier, who joined protests against ICE on Thursday, wrote on X that the NYPD \u201cspent more time protecting a militia that just shot someone than protecting New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s decision last year to retain Tisch \u2014 a self-described \u201cproud Zionist\u201d who comes from a prominent Jewish family \u2014 was seen as a reassuring move<\/a> by moderates and establishment Jewish organizations including UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council. (70 Faces Media, the parent company of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and New York Jewish Week, receives UJA funding.)\u00a0<\/p>\n A number of progressives were skeptical of the decision at the time, citing her background as an appointee of Mamdani\u2019s predecessor, Eric Adams, and her past criticism of campus pro-Palestinian protests. Some viewed her as an impediment to criminal justice reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, some on the left have dinged him for not yet following through on campaign promises 10 months into his term, including dissolving the Strategic Response Group, or backing down from his vow to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a plan which he later said he did not have the power to execute.<\/p>\n Anti-Zionist groups including Pal-Awda, Within Our Lifetime and a number of student organizations who rallied against Mamdani at the Oct. 7 vigil accused him of succumbing \u201cto Zionist pressure.\u201d Protesters called him a \u201ctraitor\u201d and a number of chants rang out including, \u201cMayor Mamdani you can\u2019t hide, we charge you with genocide,\u201d drowning out speakers at the vigil and forcing the organizers to move it behind police barricades to keep the protesters from overrunning the event.<\/p>\n Among those protesters\u2019 many gripes with the mayor was his decision to retain Tisch. One sign at the demonstration depicted Mamdani with the text, \u201cChief Executive of the NYPD SRG\u201d with a Star of David in the middle, and a name tag on the mayor\u2019s chest reading, \u201cZiohran.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Criticism was also directed at Mamdani for not stopping Israeli real estate events at synagogues, and for his strategy to combat antisemitism, released last week, which allocates funds to a number of community-based organizations aimed at preventing hate crimes. Some critics have charged that some of the funding will aid Zionist organizations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Jewish community is a large part of New York and it should be cherished. But you cannot fund these Anti-Defamation Leagues that prioritize Zionism over Judaism,\u201d a John Jay College student protester, who declined to be named, told JTA during the demonstration.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the Democratic Socialists of America\u2019s New York City chapter \u2014 which Mamdani has called his \u201cpolitical home\u201d \u2014 wrote<\/a> that Tisch \u201cmust end NYPD complicity with ICE\u201d and that if she \u201ccannot put a stop to these injustices, she must be fired.\u201d<\/p>\n