January 7, 2026 NEW YORK — The halls of One Police Plaza are usually thick with tension, but on Tuesday, the air was electric. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and the newly inaugurated Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed the elephant in the room: Who is actually in charge of the NYPD?
Rumors have been swirling since Mamdani’s first day in office, when a pen-stroke executive order appeared to bury Tisch under a new layer of City Hall bureaucracy. Critics called it a "humiliating demotion." On Tuesday, the Commissioner fought back.
"No Change in Status"
Despite an order that seemingly places her under the thumb of First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, Tisch remained defiant. Having served under four different administrations, she dismissed the drama as a mere difference in "style."
"I have worked with each [mayor] quite productively," Tisch told a room of hungry reporters. "The Mayor and I will continue to meet on issues... there is no change planned to the crime-fighting strategy."
The Mamdani Mandate
For a mayor who campaigned on radical transparency and dismantling controversial units like the Strategic Response Group, Mamdani appeared surprisingly aligned with the "status quo" he once criticized.
While the Mayor avoided direct questions about his campaign promises to gut certain NYPD operations, he was crystal clear on the chain of command: "My police commissioner will continue to report directly to me."
Why the Stability Matters
The Bronx and Brooklyn aren't just watching a political soap opera—the stakes are life and death. Tisch is credited with steering the department through a chaotic period, overseeing the lowest murder and shooting rates since 2009.
Mamdani’s decision to keep Tisch on board was seen as a "peace treaty" with a department that has cycled through four commissioners in as many years. But with a new boss at City Hall who built his platform on reform, the question remains: Is this a partnership or a cold war?
