Jessica Tisch, NYC sanitation chief, appointed NYPD commissioner

New York City Mayor Eric Adams selected Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch Wednesday to replace interim NYPD Commissioner Thomas G. Donlon at the helm of the country’s largest police department.

Tisch, 43, will be the second woman to lead NYPD. The first was Keechant Sewell, a Nassau County resident who stepped down in June 2023 after 18 months in the job.

Tisch will take over the post Monday after a swearing-in ceremony at a place and time to be determined. She will be the city’s 49th police commissioner, counting Ray Kelly and William Bratton, who each served two separate terms.

"To ensure New Yorkers have the ability to thrive in our city, we need a strong battle-tested leader who will continue to drive down crime and ensure New Yorkers are safe and feel safe, and I cannot think of a leader more up to the task than Commissioner Jessica Tisch," Adams said at a City Hall news conference announcing the appointment.

Adams said Tisch, who he picked to lead the city sanitation department in early 2022, ranked among the most successful managers of his administration. Previously, Tisch had served under Mayor Bill de Blasio as head of the Department of Technology and Telecommunications.

"For 12 years I cherished the special privilege of working alongside the brave men and women of the New York City Police Department," Tisch said at the news conference. "I have seen first hand the profound nobility of the policing profession and I was proud to work shoulder-to-shoulder with both uniform members and civilians to propel the NYPD into the next century of technological advancement."

Donlon had been interim commissioner since Edward Caban's September resignation amid a federal investigation that reportedly focused on his twin brother James’ private businesses. Caban took the job in July 2023 after Sewell resigned, reportedly after clashing with some in the Adams administration.

Adams said Donlon, a former FBI counterterrorism official, will continue to work with the office of the deputy mayor for public safety, Chauncey Parker.

Tisch previously held a number of civilian jobs with the NYPD but did not come up through the uniformed ranks. She was selected by Bratton as deputy commissioner for information technology and presided over some of the rollout of the NYPD body camera and departmentwide cellphone programs.

On Wednesday in a comment to Newsday, Bratton applauded Tisch’s appointment, saying she was "an extraordinary manager and probably one of the best prepared persons for the job."

Referring to the recent department turmoil that has seen two people occupy the commissioner’s job since Sewell's exit, Bratton added of Tisch's appointment: "Thanksgiving and Christmas came early for the NYPD and City of New York." 

Tisch lives in Manhattan and is the daughter of James Tisch, CEO of Loews Corp. and Meryl Tisch, former chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. She will earn a salary of about $250,000, according to city records.

As head of the 34,000-officer department, which is augmented by a civilian workforce of about 20,000, Tisch will lead an NYPD undergoing a number of stresses. Officer attrition remains stubbornly high, resulting in ballooning overtime costs. Officers are also facing more assaults while doing their jobs. While Tisch has had great success with technology innovation and a widely lauded program against rat infestation, she will be leading a large paramilitary organization — one where a single bad incident could rapidly lead to protests.

Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Hendry said he hoped Tisch could make progress on the issues facing the NYPD.

"Through the numerous recent changes in the NYPD’s leadership, the challenges confronting police officers on the street have remained the same," Hendry said in a statement. "We are critically understaffed, massively overworked and completely unsupported by the criminal justice system and the oversight regime that care more about punishing cops than helping us."

During Wednesday’s news conference, Adams said budget adjustments will free up funding for two police academy classes totaling 1,600 officers.

Hendry said those new classes will help, adding that without them, the NYPD would face a challenge replenishing the ranks as burned out cops continue to leave in high numbers.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.