New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch are set to appear together at a joint news conference related to public safety in Manhattan on Tuesday, a day after the mayor addressed questions about their working relationship prompted by his recent executive order.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is also expected to attend the news conference at 1 Police Plaza.
On his first day on the job, Mamdani signed a batch of executive orders — one of which outlined the restructuring of the mayor’s office. According to that order, several city agencies will be supervised and coordinated by his first deputy mayor. Those agencies include New York City Public Schools, the Office of Childcare and Early Childhood Education and the New York City Police Department.
The head of the NYPD typically reports directly to the mayor, which prompted speculation that Tisch was being “demoted” by reporting to the first deputy mayor instead of directly to Mamdani. Mamdani says that’s not so.
“My police commissioner will continue to report directly to me. My police commissioner, just like my schools’ chancellor, will report directly to me,” Mamdani said Monday. “The executive order is in terms of the question of coordination. This is about the daily minutia of coordination, not about the question of reporting.”
The comments from Mamdani on Monday stood in contrast to his words made just two days earlier. At a Saturday press conference, he appeared to suggest Tisch would report to the first deputy mayor.
“I am in constant communication with Commissioner Tisch, whether it be today or any other day,” Mamdani said. “And the commissioner, within the structure of our city hall, will be reporting to our first deputy mayor, Dean Fuleihan.”
Fuleihan previously served as first deputy mayor in the de Blasio administration. In that capacity, at the time his role included overseeing.
Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler also assisted Mayor Michael Bloomberg with the management of the NYPD.
Former NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said he has remaining questions about the arrangement.
“The mayor’s office should not be getting involved in day-to-day mundane issues of the police department — that is what the police commissioner does,” Monahan told News 4.
