New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch appeared side by side 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.
At the event, Tisch touted lower-than-ever shooting and victim numbers in 2025 over past years. She mentioned improvements in subway safety post-pandemic as part of the NYPD’s sweeping effort to protect New Yorkers.
“The NYPD drove shooting incidents and shooting victims to the lowest levels in recorded history and delivered the safest year on our subway system, outside of the pandemic era, since 2009,” Tisch declared Tuesday.
Among the stats touted by the commissioner, 856 people were shot across the five boroughs in 2025 — that’s down from 1,103 in 2024 and 897 in 2018 (the previous record low for New York City).
Tisch also clarified her relationship with the mayor in light of recent questions.
“I’d also like to thank Mayor Mamdani, to whom I report directly,” she emphasized, “and with whom I am developing a close and productive working relationship.”
Tisch was flanked at 1 Police Plaza by Mayor Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was praised by the commissioner for “investing in public safety across the city.”
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.
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