Whatever their working relationship is behind the scenes, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch have so far made plenty of progress in fighting crime around the city.
On April 2, the duo announced at One Police Plaza a historic drop in murders and shootings based on preliminary numbers for the first quarter of 2026, representing the first 90 days of Mamdani’s tenure at City Hall.
In many ways, they are polar opposites. Mamdani is a staunch democratic socialist, and relative city government outsider. Tisch is an experienced government executive who has held important posts for four different mayors. Despite their political and social differences, Mamdani sought mightily to keep Tisch at the helm of the NYPD after his election, touting her crime-fighting accomplishments. The public overtures he made for Tisch to stay ultimately worked.
Over the first 100 days of the Mamdani era at City Hall, while Tisch has managed the NYPD, for the most part, in her own way, there have been moments of friction.
And while both Mamdani and Tisch seem to be on the same page when it comes to crime-fighting, some rank-and-file NYPD officers are expressing doubts about whether the mayor has their backs.
FILE – Police officers respond to an assault in the Bronx in March 2026.Photo by Dean Moses
amNewYork spoke with several active NYPD members to gauge how they feel Mamdani is doing during his first 100 days in office. The officers who spoke with us agreed to do so anonymously so they could speak freely without facing departmental repercussions.
Over the first 100 days of Mamdani’s tenure, the officers told amNewYork that little has changed at the NYPD compared to a year ago, when Eric Adams was mayor.
When the mayor was first inaugurated in January, one police officer based in Manhattan told amNewYork, rumors began flying among the rank-and-file about potential major changes — from a reduction in promotions to a hiring freeze for officers. But in the end, the officer in the know said the rumors were “BS” and that candidate assessment is still hiring through the end of the fiscal year.
amNewYork reached out to the Mayor’s office for comment on this story, and is awaiting a response.
Snowball fight left cops feeling left in the cold
Two cops were left with lacerations after being relentlessly pelted with snowballs at Washington Square Park on Feb. 24, 2026 (right) Mayor Mamdani called it a “snowball fight” that went awry, but Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called it a deliberate attack on cops.Photos via Citizen/NYC Mayor Instagram
Even so, the officer said, he and many other officers felt the Feb. 23 snowball incident at Washington Square Park marked a test of Mamdani’s support for the NYPD, which, in their view, he ultimately failed.
The incident saw numerous officers being cursed at and pelted with snowballs as they attempted to break up a disorderly group. Tisch said several officers wound up with minor injuries that required medical treatment, and she vowed to bring those responsible to justice for what she called an assault on the NYPD.
Mamdani, however, broke from his own police commissioner, publicly stating that he believed it was just a snowball fight that went awry, not a deliberate attack on cops. Those statements, in the officer’s view, undermined the NYPD and its officers.
“What people don’t understand is, if you allow some person to do that to you, they feel entitled, and all the people around feel entitled and are going to go through to the next cop and the next cop and the next cop, and you’re setting a tone. There could be ice, there could be needles in there,” the Manhattan officer said. “You’re putting your neck on the line day in and day out, tired, away from your family. You feel like you’re alone out there, and you don’t have the support of everybody, and then you have someone get on TV and say that it’s just a snowball fight. That’s not right.”
The NYPD arrested two people in connection with the attacks on felony assault counts, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg would drop them, leaving them with lesser misdemeanor counts.
Cop to Mamdani: Support your local police!
Mayor Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade behind the NYPD banner.Photo by Dean Moses
The same officer explained that cops often are forced to work long hours with time away from their families and look to those like the mayor to provide support and validation, in hopes the public will follow suit. However, he feels that the NYPD has yet to receive that from Mamdani.
“We see him out with sanitation, he’s filling in potholes. He’s answering 311 calls, he’s visiting the 911 operators. I have yet to see him visit a roll call at a precinct,” the officer said. “If you just go and visit roll calls and just talk to cops so nobody has to listen to you through the media or read it on social media. If you’re out there and you’re coming to big roll calls, like the Fourth of July, and you come and you address the cops, and you just stop in some random precinct on the four to 12, or midnight, just to say thank you. I think that goes very far and will mean a lot to a lot of people.”
The mayor has attended numerous departmental events for the NYPD, mainly graduation and officer promotion ceremonies.
To disband, or not disband, SRG
One high-ranking cop said another point of contention came with Mamdani’s pledge to dismantle the department’s Strategic Response Group (SRG), a controversial unit used to respond to protests and counterterrorism. This insider said that the mayor did not fully understand what the unit does.
“He was campaigning and saying that he wants to disarm SRG, but I heard that SRG had a sit-down with him and explained everything that they do and what they’re qualified in, and he had no idea. He thought that they just arrested people at protests. So, before people go out and say things about somebody else, maybe sit down and try to learn a little bit about them or about the organization before they make judgments,” the high-ranking officer said.
Mamdani made disbanding the SRG a campaign promise, but Tisch has spoken out against its removal. As recently as last week, a contingent of Mamdani and NYPD officials visited with police departments in the Midwest on a fact-finding mission to learn new protest de-escalation techniques.
Union boss: ‘It’s still early, and the mayor has a chance to change’
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry.Photo by Dean Moses
Patrick Hendry, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, the union representing some 21,000 cops, echoed many of the officers’ sentiments. He believes rank-and-file cops are not getting proper encouragement from the mayor.
“Police officers need to hear consistent support from City Hall, not just words of praise when they’re convenient. When police officers are facing a dangerous or challenging situation on the street, they’re worrying whether the city under the mayor’s leadership will have their backs,” Hendry said. “It is still early, and the mayor has a chance to change that perception, but he needs to make a real effort to hear our concerns and work with us to address them.”
Another police officer, who works out of the Bronx, did not mince words about his feelings toward the mayor.
“The mayor sucks. I don’t think he’s doing the right job at the Police Department, or handling certain situations involving us. He doesn’t stick up for the cops,” the officer said.
He went on to say that he would like to see Mamdani work harder to bolster the ranks so police have more backup and are not required to work long hours without lunch breaks.
“We’re low-staffed. We’re being told to work on our days off. Quality of life is not as good as before. Can’t take days off because we don’t have anybody to cover. So, if you can hire more cops, it will be extremely helpful and at least give incentives to people that are not on the job to want to take the job,” he added. “He also just needs to show us that he has our backs.”