Pressure on NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani grows as allies demand the dismissal of NYPD commissioner

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing increasing pressure from the left wing of his political coalition, as socialist allies and pro-Palestinian activists are demanding that he fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. According to a report published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, calls have intensified following a shooting incident involving a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Thursday, in which a Dominican man was injured while sitting in his car with his five-year-old son in the back seat.

Darializa Avila Shabliye, who won the Democratic primaries with Mamdani's support and is expected to join Congress next year, called for the disbandment of the NYPD Strategic Response Unit and demanded that Tisch resign. "The NYPD's Strategic Response Unit must be dismantled as quickly as possible, and Commissioner Tish must resign," Shabliye said.

Seventeen public officials and additional candidates associated with the Democratic Socialists of America signed a letter on Friday stating that Tisch "must get ICE out of New York and end NYPD complicity with these terrorists," adding that, "If the Commissioner can't put a stop to these injustices, she must be fired."

The decision that reassured part of the Jewish community

Mamdani's decision last year to keep Tish in his position was seen as a reassuring move by moderate elements and established Jewish organizations in New York. Tish, who defines herself as a "proud Zionist" and comes from a well-known Jewish family, was originally appointed by Mamdani's predecessor, Eric Adams.

According to JTA, among the organizations that viewed the decision as a positive sign were the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council. On the other hand, even at the time the decision was made, progressive groups expressed reservations about Tisch, both because of her connection to the Adams administration and due to criticism she has voiced in the past regarding pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses.

"Her Zionist politics should have led to her dismissal."

The anti-Zionist organization Jewish Voice for Peace, which has supported Mamdani ever since he first ran for the New York State Legislature, also joined the calls for Tisch's removal. In a statement from the organization, it was written that "Jessica Tisch’s virulent Zionist politics, connection to big tech surveillance, and commitment to sharing tactics between the NYPD and Israeli military should have led to her immediately being fired at the start of the new mayoral administration."

At the same time, figures on the left also criticize Mamdani for, according to them, not yet fulfilling several of his campaign promises, including dismantling the police’s strategic response unit, ten months after taking office.

"Traitor" and "Ziohran"

The pressure on Mamdani is also coming from pro-Palestinian activists, who confronted him at an event held on Wednesday to commemorate October 7th.

Mamdani attended an Israeli memorial event where people mourned the loss of both Jewish and Palestinian lives, but he faced severe protest from demonstrators who called him, among other things, a "traitor" and "Ziohran," a play on words combining his name with the word "Zionist."

The protesters accused him of not doing enough to advance the pro-Palestinian agenda that had been associated with him over the years.

During the demonstration, chants were also heard: "Mayor Mamdani, you can't hide, we accuse you of genocide." According to the report, the protest was so loud that the organizers of the memorial event were forced to move the event behind police barricades.

The activists also criticized him for his decision to keep Tisch in her position, for failing to prevent Israeli real estate events in synagogues, and for his plan to combat antisemitism, which, according to some critics, distributes funds to organizations identified as Zionist.

"Do not necessarily represent its foundation"

Alongside this, some of Mamdani's allies claimed that the protesters do not necessarily represent his political support base. Activist Avi Stein told JTA that in her estimation, most of the participants in the protest did not support Memdani to begin with.

According to the report, some of the signs at the protest bore the name of the Maoist Communist Union, which opposed Mamdani even before he assumed office, and copies of a journal associated with a Trotskyist organization were also distributed at the event.

However, Stein, who is also a member of the DSA, admitted that some of the demands raised at the protest also align with views held within Mamdani's support base. "There are things that people are angry about that I think are legitimate—like keeping Jessica Tisch in her position," she said. "A lot of us weren't happy about that."