What’s in it for Jessica Tisch?

Jessica Tisch has wanted this for years. 

She described the opportunity to become NYPD commissioner as a homecoming. “In my dozen years at the department, I had the opportunity to work with some of the most extraordinary public servants, people who run toward the danger when everyone else runs away,” she said at the Wednesday press conference when Mayor Eric Adams abruptly dropped the appointment news. “It is now my privilege to lead you. And I’m looking forward to coming home.” When she’s sworn in on Monday, she’ll become the second woman in history to hold the post.

For the city government veteran, whose career began at the NYPD, police commissioner has been something of a dream job, several sources said. Despite never serving as a uniformed police officer – as past commissioners often have – Tisch’s resume in public office has paved a visible path to that post. She worked her way up to deputy commissioner for information technology at the NYPD, then under former Mayor Bill de Blasio led the city’s information technology office before taking the helm at the Department of Sanitation under Adams. Despite not coming up through the sanitation department – as past commissioners often, but not always have – Tisch was successful there by all accounts.

“Tisch is pursuing, arguably, one of the most important jobs – or if not, the second most important job to the mayor. That is being police commissioner and making sure that we’re keeping our city safe,” said City Council Member Shaun Abreu, who chairs the council’s Committee on Sanitation and has praised Tisch as someone who can make progress on tackling once “unimaginable” tasks like containerizing the city’s garbage. 

But that post is also one that receives far more scrutiny and can be its own minefield. Tisch will be Adams’ fourth top cop in his three years in office. Under the Adams administration, several NYPD officials have come under federal scrutiny – including former Commissioner Edward Caban. And while running the Department of Sanitation is no walk in the park, Tisch will be responsible for public safety in the city – a real concern for New Yorkers, and often a top policy and political concern for lawmakers.

Asked about whether that position comes with more risks to Tisch’s future career because of that difficulty, Abreu suggested that Tisch would be capable of managing it. “If there’s any risk, I’m sure that she’s assumed the risk, and that she would be happy to take on that risk – specifically for a job where you can really have an impact on the day-to-day lives of New Yorkers,” Abreu said. “When people are safe, when people feel safe, they feel better about government, they feel better that we’re working for them.”

Former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who Tisch worked under during his second appointment, suggested that Tisch could restore trust. “If ever there was a right time for the right person in the right place, the appointment of Jessie Tisch as NYC Police Commissioner would be it,” Bratton wrote on X. “Jessie will undoubtedly restore confidence in the NYPD as her managerial skills are extraordinary…”

Taking on a tougher job is one thing, but doing so under an administration and executive whose political stock has plummeted is another. Adams, who in September was charged with corruption by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has seen upheaval in his administration as scrutiny into him and others in his orbit mounted. Facing multiple primary challengers and a trial next year, a second term isn’t guaranteed. 

But Tisch has publicly stood by the mayor – even as some have headed for the exits. Asked in a NY1 interview if she would stay in her role under Adams, a few weeks after federal corruption charges were filed against him, Tisch didn’t hesitate. “Oh, absolutely,” she said, before launching into their work on curbside composting and getting residential trash into containers. “The one thing that those two initiatives share in common is that they would not get done without Mayor Adams,” she said.

And if Adams does become a one-term mayor, it’s not unheard of for a police commissioner to stay on in a mayoral transition. Tisch is well-respected and well-connected enough to bet on that possibility. 

A source close to Tisch described her as developing a close relationship with Adams over the past three years, which they suggested stems from a real alignment on issues. “The mayor has been the biggest champion on the sanitation issues. And on policing, their views are very aligned,” the source said, mentioning as one example the mayor’s expanded use of new technology in the NYPD. “I often hear her saying, ‘That’s a good idea,’ about things that the mayor is talking about,” the source said. 

As to whether Tisch will withstand any attempts at micro-managing from City Hall, Abreu projected confidence in Tisch. “I think Commissioner Tisch brings a level of fresh independent leadership,” he said. “Obviously, I would expect her to be a team player with the mayor. But I also expect her to run her department free from outside interference.”