New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has appointed Jessica Tisch to stay at the helm of the nation’s largest police department as NYPD commissioner in his incoming administration, his team said Wednesday.
Mamdani’s team points to a historic drop in crime under Tisch’s leadership, including the fewest shooting incidents and victims ever reported in the first 10 months of the year.
Mamdani commended Tisch’s commitment to rooting out corruption in the NYPD’s highest levels and leading a department-wide focus on transparency and accountability. He said he looks forward to working with her.
Tisch also highlighted the reduction in crime stats this year.
She and Mamdani are expected to advance a coordinated approach to public safety that remains focused on serious and violent crime, while strengthening the city’s response to issues like homelessness and mental health. Tisch acknowledged her appointment in an internal memo to the NYPD. News 4 obtained it.
In it, she acknowledges there are differences in viewpoints between her and Mamdani when it comes to policing, but touted their common ground when it comes to prioritizing public safety and respectful support.
“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’s note said. “Based on these conversations, I am confident that I can continue to lead this department honorably going forward.”
She continued, “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.”
An 18-year public service veteran, Tisch ran the New York City Department of Sanitation, where she oversaw the most significant modernization of the city’s waste system in decades.
She began her public service career in 2008 in the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau.
Wednesday’s announcement comes after Mamdani appointed a veteran budget official to be his first deputy mayor, tapping a seasoned hand of government to lead operations as he embarks on an ambitious agenda.
The appointment of Dean Fuleihan as top deputy gives institutional heft to Mamdani ‘s budding administration, offering insight into how the 34-year-old democratic socialist will pursue a policy slate that skeptics have skewered as financially unrealistic.
Fuleihan, 74, will bring more than four decades of government experience to the job, including past posts as former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s budget director and deputy mayor, as well as an extensive tenure in budget and policy roles in the state Legislature in Albany.
Mamdani also appointed Elle Bisgaard-Church, a top campaign adviser and his chief of staff in the state Assembly, to be his City Hall chief of staff.