Mamdani takes a risk, courts NYPD Commissioner Tisch in public without certainty she will keep the job

By Gloria Pazmino, Maria Sole Campinoti, CNN

(CNN) — One of the most high-profile job interviews in New York City politics and government appears to be playing out in the public eye.

Democratic Mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, who announced his intention to keep New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch at the helm of the department from a debate stage last week, has not directly spoken to Tisch about the offer.

“I haven’t had a private conversation with her on that,” Mamdani told CNN in an exclusive interview on Sunday.

A mayor’s choice for police commissioner is considered one of the highest profile appointments a new administration has to make. As the largest police force in the nation, the commissioner is often in the spotlight as much as the mayor. The relationship is also key – a mayoralty’s success can hinge on the success of its police leader and the department, with city crime rates closely scrutinized as much as any policy or decision coming out of City Hall.

Mamdani has made his admiration for Tisch clear, telling CNN he believes she could help deliver on his public safety agenda.

“I make the decision to retain commissioner Tisch not only to build on the results that we’ve seen under her tenure, but also to deliver on the agenda that I’ve been running on,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani’s signature public safety proposal, the creation of a new agency known as the “department of public safety” would need full buy-in from the police department. He has proposed creating a civilian agency and shift focus to a community-based prevention approach that would target homelessness and people experiencing mental illness. Mamdani has said police officers would still respond in instances in which they are needed, but he has said he wants police officers to focus on violent crime and prevention.

Although Mamdani has not spoken to Tisch since he made the public offer, he told CNN Sunday he is confident she will accept.

“I am confident that we will be working together,” Mamdani said.

It’s a risky assumption by Mamdani, whose views on law enforcement vary significantly from Tisch’s. Despite their differences, Mamdani has heaped praise on Tisch for helping to root out corruption from the highest levels of the department and for continuing to drive crime down.

Mamdani believes Tisch has showed she is committed to her work, which he says “has been made more difficult by the Adams administration.”

Throughout the course of the campaign, Mamdani has moderated some of his most controversial stances on policing, distancing himself from a previous call to defund the police and apologizing for calling police officers “racist” and “wicked.”

Mamdani’s signature public safety proposal, the creation of a new agency known as the department of public safety would need full buy in from the police department.

Mamdani’s choice is also politically strategic. Tisch is well regarded by city lawmakers and Governor Kathy Hochul and the choice could comfort some of the lawmakers who still view Mamdani’s proposals and his criticism of the police as evidence he won’t be able to work with a department which is notoriously hard to change from within. Even some of the most left-leaning members of the City Council have held back criticism from Mamdani’s choice so far.

Tisch, who has spent her career in city government and previously served as the commissioner for the Department of Sanitation is a billionaire heiress from one of New York city’s most prominent families. The Tisch’s significant business and real estate empire stretches across the city and includes the Loews Corporation.

Tisch has not publicly addressed Mamdani’s offer or taken a position since his primary win in June. Mamdani said the last time he spoke with her in private was following the killing of a police officer when a gunman opened fire inside a Manhattan office building in July.

A spokesperson for the department referred to a previous comment by Tisch, saying “it is not appropriate for the police commissioner to be directly involved or to seem to be involved in electoral politics.”

While Tisch has not yet made her position clear, her family has.

At least four members of the Tisch family including her mother have donated money to Fix the City – a pro-Cuomo super PAC funded by the billionaires Mamdani often talks about in his campaign accusing them of trying to influence the outcome of the election.

Asked if the donations suggest she might not be interested in the job, Mamdani said he was unbothered.

“No, because I’m not hiring the family,” Mamdani said. “I’m hiring the commissioner.”

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