PoliticsMayor Zohran Mamdani Stands Behind NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch After NYC ICE Shooting Despite Calls for Her Firing: 'No Plans to Change'
Zohran Mamdani stuck by Jessica Tisch despite progressive complaints.
Oct. 14 2026, Published 11:38 a.m. ET
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch amid left-wing calls for her firing following the ICE shooting in the city last week, creating a rift between the progressive mayor and his Democratic Socialist base.
“Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner. I have no plans to change that,” the 34-year-old mayor said at an October 13 press conference.
Jessica Tisch and Zohran Mamdani's Relationship Put to the Test
Zohran Mamdani decided not to remove Jessica Tisch when he took over.
Tisch, 45, stayed on as commisioner after Mamdani took over from Mayor Eric Adams earlier this year. Mamdani has supported her because of what he calls her “record of uprooting corruption from the upper echelons of the NYPD while lowering crime across our city.”
But the October 8 ICE shooting of Oscar Belgal in Manhattan's Marble Hill put his allegiance to Tisch under stress. The NYPD was not involved in the shooting, but progressives have criticized the police response in the wake of the incident.
Progressives Call for Jessica Tisch's Firing
City progressives want Zohran Mamdani to ditch Jessica Tisch.
City Council member Carmen de la Rosa, who represents the district where Belgal was shot, criticized Mamdani's endorsement of Tisch.
“This is an issue that I feel that the mayor is wrong,” she said. “I think that in this case he should be listening to what communities are saying because it is all of our jobs to make sure we are building trust with the NYPD and our communities.”
She continued: “What I heard from the NYPD was that they were investigating the shooting that happened on a New York City street, but they know who the shooter is. So, was the NYPD there to arrest the shooter? To pursue the shooter? Or to secure the scene and make sure ICE was able to leave the scene?”
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Zohran Mamdani Calls for Review Into Shooting
Zohran Mamdani announced an investigation into the shooting.
Mamdani called for the abolition of ICE and the removal of the agency from New York City at a press conference in the wake of the shooting.
He also announced an investigation into the incident, saying it will cover both the shooting and the NYPD response.
"It is a review that will be of the 24 hours around the incident,” he said. "It is both the horrific ICE shooting of Oscar. It is also the police department's response to the incident as well as the ensuing protest. It is also ICE's use of a private parking lot as a staging location. As well as a broader exploration of any and all tools the city can use to defend immigrants that call this city home.”
Zohran Mamdani and DHS Trade Barbs
Zohran Mamdani said the ICE agent was indistinguishable from a mass shooter.
Belgal was shot in his car by an unmarked ICE agent wearing a construction vest on October 8. He is being detained in a Brooklyn detention facility, where his lawyers say he requires surgery to remove a bullet from his neck, and also allege he is not being fed and only has access to bathroom sink water.
Mamdani has vocally criticized ICE's tactics in the shooting, saying the ICE agent was indistinguishable from a "mass shooter." He has been engaged in a war of words with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who said that Mamdani's rhetoric was "dangerous."
