Mamdani Urges NYPD Boss Tisch To Stay On, Despite Anti-Police Rhetoric

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Sunday that he has met with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and wants her to continue leading the force once he takes office.

“I do want her to stay,” Mamdani told ABC7’s Bill Ritter. “I made that commitment during the election and I continue to believe [that].”

The democratic socialist — who has since tried to walk back earlier “defund the police” comments — has previously hinted he’d try to keep Tisch in the job. The commissioner has not yet said if she’s willing to serve in a Mamdani administration. Mamdani has not, however, rejected his comments in 2023, in which he said “when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it has been laced by the IDF.”

Mamdani praised Tisch while slamming outgoing Mayor Eric Adams and the internal dysfunction she was tasked with cleaning up.

He credited Tisch for “accountability” and crime reduction, saying her work is something he hopes to expand on once in office.

Still, the two hold opposing views on police staffing. Tisch wants to increase NYPD headcount, while Mamdani insists, “I think the number of officers we have is the right amount” even as many officers are nearing retirement.

Mamdani also pledged to launch a new Department of Community Safety to handle calls involving people who are homeless or struggling with mental illness — a plan sharply criticized by law enforcement leaders as unsafe and unrealistic.

The mayor-elect said his discussion with Tisch focused on reducing crime, though he avoided answering whether he’d interfere ideologically with NYPD operations.

The meeting, he said, was “more about what it could look like to continue to deliver public safety and what it could look like especially without the distractions we’ve seen over the past few years.”

“I want this to be about the outcomes,” he said. “The most important thing is that New Yorkers are given a city that is safe and a city that is just, and too often those things have been put in tension.”