Tisch, Tisch Boom: Mamdani’s socialist allies demand he fire NYPD chief

THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).

Democratic Socialists of America activists are demanding the removal of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch following protests over a federal immigration shooting in the Bronx.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t cooperating: “Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner. I have no plans to change that.”
The mayor praised Tisch for fighting corruption and lowering crime, then appeared alongside her at a ceremony honoring fallen NYPD officers.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has discovered that keeping his socialist allies happy and running the nation’s largest police department aren’t necessarily the same job.

Activists on the left want NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch fired.

Mamdani says she’s staying. “Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner. I have no plans to change that,” the mayor told reporters Tuesday.

The declaration came as Democratic Socialists of America activists and other groups intensified their demands for Tisch’s removal following protests over a federal immigration shooting in the Bronx.

Federal immigration agents shot Oscar Belgal during an operation last week. The NYPD was not involved in the shooting itself, but city officers responded to demonstrations afterward.

Confrontations between protesters and police fueled new criticism of Tisch and the department’s Strategic Response Group, a specialized unit that sometimes responds to demonstrations.

Activist groups called for the commissioner to be fired and for the unit to be dismantled.

The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America also demanded that Mamdani use his authority to push federal immigration enforcement out of the city.

But Mamdani wasn’t about to surrender his police commissioner.

Instead, he publicly defended her record. He said he retained Tisch because she had worked to uproot corruption from the NYPD’s upper ranks while lowering crime.

The mayor pointed to the city’s record-low murder and shooting numbers during their time working together. That’s a politically awkward defense for a mayor whose rise was powered in part by activists demanding major changes to policing.

And the disagreement wasn’t merely theoretical. Young Democratic Socialists of America groups and other activist organizations announced a protest demanding Tisch’s dismissal and the dismantling of the Strategic Response Group.

Meanwhile, Mamdani and Tisch appeared together Tuesday at a ceremony honoring NYPD officers who died in the line of duty. The ceremony recognized 42 officers, including first responders who died from illnesses connected to the September 11 attacks. Mamdani offered condolences to their families and thanked them for the sacrifices of their loved ones.

Tisch also addressed the ceremony, with no public sign of tension between the commissioner and the mayor.

The political irony is hard to miss. The same mayor whose socialist credentials helped propel him to City Hall is now publicly defending a police commissioner his most ideological supporters want removed. For the moment, Mamdani has chosen the commissioner over the protesters.