Zohran Mamdani's First Big Decision

Will the next Mayor retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch?

---

The Billionaires. The Cops. The Media Elite.

None of these three cohorts, whose collective institutional power has historically determined whether the Mayor of New York City succeeds or fails, is particularly warm to Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani.

However, all three (to varying degrees), are pleased with the performance of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who has led the NYPD since last fall.

Tisch, an heir to the vast Loews fortune, has carved out a career in public service, working in the administrations of both Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams. The Sanitation Commissioner for two-and-a-half years, Tisch was elevated to lead the police department following a spate of high-profile scandals that felled previous leadership. While not a former cop herself, a longstanding dynamic that often foreshadows tension with rank-and-file officers, Tisch has won plaudits for curtailing corruption without alienating her base in the department. Since the onset of her tenure, violent crime has noticeably declined, commensurate with national trends. The billionaire and business class, of which the heiress is intimately familiar, sees the commissioner as the technocratic bright-spot in an administration rife with chaos and corruption. Ditto for the media class, where the liberal New York Times and right-wing New York Post have formed an unlikely alliance in their consistent praise of Jessica Tisch. For those who still yearn for the glory days of Michael Bloomberg — another technocratic billionaire may be on the horizon.

As you may know, New York’s financial elite bet big on Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic Primary. The media class came in late, with tepid but nonetheless uniform support, not so much an affirmative vote of confidence in the former Governor, but an effort to stop the surging socialist, Zohran Mamdani. Their full-throated attempt, a referendum on elite and institutional influence, failed miserably, as Cuomo was convincingly defeated by thirteen points.

Ahead of November’s General Election, which features a dysfunctional clown car of non-Zohran candidates — both Cuomo and Adams running on Independent ballot lines, with red beret-wearing Curtis Sliwa as the Republican nominee — the conversation has inevitably shifted away from electoral politics to staffing the next iteration of City Hall.

Thus, in the forthcoming months, New York City will get a taste of how Zohran Mamdani will govern over the next four years, starting with the critical question that will define the early days of his administration: whether or not to retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

---

Were Jessica Tisch to stay on in a Zohran Mamdani administration, she could serve as a bulwark against the institutions most weary of the democratic socialist — a unique bureaucratic actor capable of simultaneously keeping the cops, the billionaires, and the media class at bay.

The billionaire and business elite know Tisch as one of their own. While above all they explicitly desire no new taxes, this cohort values an open line of communication to the top of city government; to feel heard and included, rather than scolded and shunned. Despite never being a police officer herself, Commissioner Tisch has stood by many officers accused of wrongdoing, slowly earning her buy-in from the right-wing unions that represent the department’s rank and file. Nonetheless, her pursuit of top-level corruption has endeared the wealthy heiress to the Editorial Board class, who fancy her technocracy as reminiscent of the Bloomberg era.

On each front, Jessica Tisch has something tangible to offer Zohran Mamdani.

Bill de Blasio is the poster-child for how the billionaire class, press, and police can erode a Mayor’s popularity. The progressive hopeful tapped Bill Bratton, the architect of Rudy Giuliani's “broken windows” policing, despite their ideological distance, in an effort to appease reactionary voices assailing the new Mayor as “soft on crime.” Nonetheless, even the Mayor’s modest statements were taken for a rebuke of the rank-and-file. After a grand jury declined to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo for killing Eric Garner with an illegal chokehold, de Blasio spoke eloquently about the difficult conversations he had with his biracial son, Dante, with respect to the dangers of interacting with the police. Weeks later, hundreds of NYPD officers turned their backs on the Mayor at the funeral for two police officers killed in the line of duty. Soon thereafter, a “slowdown” commenced, a deliberate work stoppage where arrests and summonses plummeted. Lack of enforcement did not precipitate a crime wave, but de Blasio and the progressive City Council nonetheless led a multi-year campaign to hire 1,000 new officers. For the remainder of his tenure, De Blasio was anxious about challenging the NYPD, afraid he would suffer humiliation akin to that fateful day at Brooklyn's Woodhull Hospital. Yet, the defining moment came during the summer of 2020. As the NYPD battered and kettled protestors following the George Floyd uprising, de Blasio pointedly defended the department when a police cruiser rammed into protestors. Aides recoiled in horror and publicly disavowed his comments.

Despite this fraught relationship, police unions lacked a foothold in the Democratic electorate, allowing de Blasio to cruise to two terms. And, for as many headaches as the NYPD caused the Mayor, his undoing was rooted in press relations, or lack thereof. Without a doubt, the Editorial Board elite always loathed de Blasio, who (correctly) diagnosed their ilk as out-of-touch. However, his slow and steady alienation of the City Hall press corps was not inevitable. Most notably, the de Blasio administration struggled to counter daily floggings from the New York Post, while simultaneously warring with liberal, prestige media. By his second term, de Blasio routinely showed up to his press briefings more than an hour late, furthering the narrative he was disinterested in the job; a notion that was cemented by his ill-fated Presidential bid in 2019. Bill de Blasio had taken such a reputational hit that upon his fleeting campaign for New York’s 10th Congressional District, the longtime resident of Park Slope was forced to abandon his bid, as the many liberals and progressives who had powered his rise (in part) had so thoroughly soured on the ex-Mayor. De Blasio’s preventable media-related shortcomings are a reminder to Zohran Mamdani, a far more talented communicator, that his fate can be different.

Notably, Jessica Tisch has more clout across the left-right spectrum of New York City media than any public figure. When the Mayoral field came into focus, the New York Post, the city’s all-power right-wing tabloid, was quick to deride the cast of candidates: “the forces of sanity in city government may have no standard-bearer.” However, The Post eagerly elevated Tisch as a potential Mayoral candidate, despite her being the NYPD commissioner for less than four months at the time: “Tisch is a technocrat — a competent, efficient one, unafraid to defy conventional thinking (from the left, right or center) or upend the status quo.” In April, The New York Times gave Tisch a glowing profile: “Police Commissioner, Heiress and Maybe a Future New York City Mayor.” Months later, the paper of record’s Editorial Board, long the voice of the city’s liberal intelligentsia, delivered a similar excoriation of the Democratic Primary field, by way of a long-winded and rambling editorial that pinned for a return to the Bloomberg era. Despite issuing a de-facto “Rank Cuomo, not Mamdani” conclusion, the article’s last line omitted the top two candidates altogether: “We will also be rooting for a stronger field in the 2029 election.” It read as though they were alluding to Jessica Tisch.

Already, there is a pressure campaign building on Mamdani to keep Tisch. According to The New York Times, both Attorney General Letitia James and business leader Kathy Wylde have urged Mamdani to retain the police commissioner. Brad Lander, a natural fit for a top-level role in Mamdani’s administration who became an invaluable ally in the race’s homestretch, stated early in his campaign that he would re-appoint Tisch as commissioner.

Undoubtedly, Zohran Mamdani cannot govern out of fear, but the newly-minted Mayor would be wise to consider the political fallout were he to eschew Jessica Tisch. While the billionaire class has proved impotent on their ability to connect with working-class New Yorkers, the tabloids (Daily News, New York Post) still shape the narratives of everyday life, nowhere more so than with respect to public safety. Were Mamdani to appoint a new commissioner more aligned with his reform initiatives — the Department of Community Safety, designed to shift many non-criminal responsibilities from NYPD officers to mental health social workers — he would, in the event of a high-profile killing or spike in crime, risk an even greater backlash. Such an episode would be an early test of whether the savvy and charismatic Mamdani could pacify local media — those who cover his mayoralty day-in-and-day out, and ultimately shape the larger meta-narratives.

On the contrary, Tisch, who has presided over a steady decline in violent crime, could give Mamdani much-needed cover on public safety, the fault-line with the greatest potential to derail his ambitious agenda. Indeed, it is paramount that the early days of the insurgent’s Mayoralty are not defined by crime and disorder, but rather Mamdani’s initiatives to address costs-of-living. Furthermore, Tisch has shown an ability to shepherd through modest but meaningful reforms, helping turn the page on the corruption that defined the NYPD under the Adams’ Administration (former commissioner Tim Donlon sued Eric Adams in federal court yesterday, accusing the mayor of “running City Hall and the Police Department as a criminal enterprise”). Were Tisch retained, Mamdani’s uneasy allies and earnest skeptics would be given not only an olive branch, but proof that their new Mayor is more technocrat than ideologue.

Additionally, if Zohran Mamdani announced plans to keep Tisch — who “wants to stay in the job regardless of the outcome [of the general election]” according to The New York Times — the Democratic nominee’s prospects in November, already rosy, would be further cemented. A well-respected operative who has followed the race closely (and was bullish early on Mamdani’s chances) told me yesterday, “if Zohran loses, it will be because he does not keep Jessica Tisch. She is worth five points in Manhattan alone.”

Seems like a no brainer? Not so fast.

---

While Mamdani and Tisch are aligned on many of the incumbent Commissioner's anti-corruption reforms, there is significant distance between the two on several issues that could serve as political deal breakers. In support of her boss, Mayor Eric Adams, Tisch has criticized politicians who endorsed “defunding the police” (Mamdani supported “defund” in 2020, but has since walked back his comments, asserting he would not lower the NYPD’s headcount as Mayor). The Tisch family remains ardent supporters of Israel, whose government Mamdani has assailed for “committing genocide” in Gaza. And, while their eldest daughter is focused on the NYPD, the rest of her family is undoubtedly enmeshed in the close-knit world of the financial elite, many of whom have serious reservations about the Democratic nominee (or are outright opposed); a difficult dynamic, underscored by Tuesday’s “tense” meeting between Mamdani and business leaders, many of whom urged him to retain Tisch. Additionally, the commissioner has “stood by” cooperating with federal law enforcement on criminal matters, despite their work with ICE, amidst the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Furthermore, there is an open question as to how Tisch would handle contentious public protests under a Mamdani administration; and whether the commissioner would support the disbanding of the SRG (Strategic Response Group), a unit formed to police protests that has faced consistent criticism for frequent excessive force, leading to a disproportionately high number of complaints to the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Perhaps most damningly, Tisch recently refused to fire Lieutenant Jonathan Rivera, who fatally shot Allan Feliz during a confrontation that began after a seatbelt stop in the Bronx, believing Feliz was about to run over another officer, Edward Barrett. In doing so, Tisch rejected the recommendation of an administrative judge, while “relying in large part” on a report from State Attorney General Letitia James, who declined to prosecute Lieutenant Rivera in 2020. According to The New York Times, the decision was “closely watched by [police] union leaders and supporters of families whose loved ones were killed by the police,” with the former concerned that Tisch would discipline Lieutenant Rivera, while the latter was keen on whether the commissioner would be willing to hold officers accused of serious wrongdoing accountable. While Tisch has close to unanimous approval from the business class and media elites, her weakness lies in a lack of widespread buy-in from NYPD rank-and-file. As such, one can posit that despite her anti-corruption bona fides, Tisch may be more hesitant to discipline officers for questionable uses of force and violence, and risk drawing the ire of the police unions.

Such a decision, were it to come during Mamdani’s mayoralty, would be hard to square with the democratic socialist’s base, which is already skeptical (to say the least) of the NYPD. If asked by the new Mayor to relieve Lieutenant Rivera on Day #1, would Tisch blink? How does the police commissioner feel about disbanding the SRG, or complying with Mamdani’s vow to “reverse the policies that punished pro-Palestine student protesters last spring”? Indeed, for a partnership to thrive between the two, there will need to be a mutual understanding of red lines.

Already, Mamdani’s left-leaning coalition has adapted to better meet the needs of the Democratic electorate with respect to policing. The days of socialist politicians calling for defund, let alone abolition, are over. And while Mamdani's plan for the Department of Community Safety is an ambitious and bold step, it remains a far cry from the significant cuts to police budgets that were proposed less than five years ago. To win, Mamdani had to shift his stance on public safety so as not to alienate working-class voters. Yet, to what degree can Mamdani further adjust his previous positions, in service of the broader electorate, without irking or de-mobilizing his ideological base. Certainly, Mamdani has unparalleled good will amongst his core constituencies. However, there is no issue in New York City (including Israel–Palestine) that can polarize and fracture a coalition like policing. While Jessica Tisch and the Democratic Socialists of America will never see eye-to-eye with respect to the largest law enforcement entity in the United States, can they co-exist for what promises to be four rollercoaster years?

One could argue that Tisch lacks the same incentive to remain steadfastly loyal to Mamdani as a potential alternative, given the incumbent commissioner burnished both her bureaucratic credentials and media profile without him. Her independent cachet and legitimacy in the eyes of the press could shield Mamdani, or be avenues to credibly undermine him. Undoubtedly, elements of the business class are already salivating at the prospect of Tisch challenging Mamdani in 2029, regardless of whether the next Mayor retains her or not. Would Zohran Mamdani be looking over his shoulder everyday for four years?

Most importantly, The Tisch Decision will not occur in a vacuum. In light of all that has been discussed thus far, what would a strong alternative look like? Could Mamdani find an aligned, internal candidate whom rank-and-file officers support? Would he consider looking outside the department — to Baltimore, Boston, or Philadelphia — in search of a true reformer?

The most consequential appointment of Mamdani’s early administration will also be his most fraught. Does the Mayor form an imperfect, but utilitarian pact with Tisch — securing a (temporary) truce with elites, continuing anti-corruption reforms, all while not rocking the boat too much — allowing Mamdani to spend his time (and political capital) tackling affordability? OR will Mamdani plunge headfirst into the deep end, and lead the boldest attempt to remake public safety in New York City’s modern history?

It is not a coincidence that no Mayor has retained a Police Commissioner from a previous administration. Above all else, Zohran Mamdani will need to hire someone he trusts implicitly.

Time will tell whether that person is Jessica Tisch.

---

Connect With Me:

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelLangeNYC

Email me at Michael.James.Lange@gmail.com