The Left's Pleas for Mamdani to Fire NYPD Commissioner Tisch

Brian Lehrer (0:10)

Brian Lehrer on WNYC. So you've almost certainly heard by now that immigration enforcement officials shot a 28-year-old man named Oscar Bergola in the neck last Thursday afternoon in Marble Hill, upper Manhattan. While a five-year-old boy was in the car with him, he's now in ICE custody, Mr. Bergola. We dug into the details of the story on the show on Friday and Monday, and what it says more broadly about how ICE is operating in New York City. And as you might expect, a lot of people, including Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hokel, and many council members are condemning the agency for their use of force.

As I said before the break, that's going to be our issue in our 30 issues series tomorrow with respect to governor's race. But there's another parallel conversation going on that we touched on on Monday that I really want to spend some time with today. And that is how Mamdani is managing the role of the New York City Police Department and all of this. That's obviously not ICE. And specifically how he's managing his relationship with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Now, the NYPD was not responsible for the shooting. Let's be clear about that. But they were there in the aftermath. Holding back protestors who were trying to block ICE from transporting the victim. And ultimately, the NYPD did arrest five protestors. So now many members of the political left, including the DSA, are formally calling on Mayor Mamdani to fire Commissioner Tisch. During Mamdani's campaign, he made a number of promises to reform the NYPD. But so far, he ended up keeping the Adams appointee in the role, even though she's supportive of many of the policies the mayor had vowed to do away with. And many of those policies remain in place. So far, Mamdani has said he has no plans to remove Tisch from the position. But the conversation around their relationship is definitely getting more intense. And in this context, coincidence or not, the mayor has now announced a sweeping review of NYPD use of force policies and practices. Let's see what's happening.

Ben Feuerherd is a reporter in the Gothamist WNYC newsroom who covers public safety and policing. And he's with us now to unpack all of this. Ben, thanks for coming on the show with us today. We really, really appreciate it.

Ben Feuerherd (2:35)

Hey, thanks. Thanks for having me.

Brian Lehrer (2:37)

So first, what did the mayor announce with respect to reviewing NYPD use of force? What's the newest new thing here?

Ben Feuerherd (2:47)

Yeah, so he announced a wholesale review of use of force, and then several reforms that he said will strengthen oversight of the NYPD. One, I think the main headline is an additional 2.6 million in budget for the NYPD's Office of Inspector General, and that's actually overseen by the Department of Investigation in the city. So that's an independent oversight of NYPD operations, practices, First Amendment, making sure they police protests in a way consistent with the First Amendment.

So that's an additional 2.6 million in that area.

Brian Lehrer (3:34)

Is it clear what Mamdani has his sights on?

Certain use of force practices that maybe he criticized during the campaign by name? I don't know. Or that he's just thinking, we need to take a second look at this?

Ben Feuerherd (3:50)

Yeah, there was, it could also be seen as a response to an officer who retired, who was who's facing a departmental trial for a killing of a man named Wyn Rosario. And that officer was allowed to retire based on an NYPD error.

And so he did not did not face a departmental trial on charges that he used excessive force in the killing. So one of these reforms that Mamdani announced Friday was what he called a strengthening of retirement notifications. And so the NYPD has implemented a new notification system to facilitate the completion of the disciplinary process, they said in the press release.

Brian Lehrer (4:37)

So on the Wyn Rosario case and that retirement, and I guess other cases too, will they be able to retroactively investigate potential violations from the past that people are upset about? Or is this limited to a from now on thing?

Ben Feuerherd (4:55)

It's a good question, and we'll certainly have to see how they implement this. My thought, my guess would be that they wouldn't be able to retroactively investigate if somebody has been in that instance allowed to retire.

I just imagine that would raise all sorts of legal issues that would be fought out in court.

Brian Lehrer (5:18)

Yeah. Do you think this is a coincidence of timing, or is the pressure from the left after the Marble Hill incident and some other things that people were already unhappy with Mayor Mamdani, with respect to how he continues to use the NYPD?