Mamdani Stands by Tisch as Left Splits Over NYPD, ICE

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is standing by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch as members of his own political coalition call for her firing. The split exposes a hard question for New York’s progressive movement: what does a sanctuary city owe immigrant residents when federal agents appear on its streets?

The dispute began after ICE agents shot an illegal migrant in the Bronx. Darializa Avila Chevalier, a socialist House candidate Mamdani endorsed in the primaries, posted nearly 400 words on social media last Friday. She accused Tisch and the NYPD of violating “the spirit, if not the letter, of our sanctuary city policies” and said the department had “fueled the Trump Administration’s attempt to demonize our communities.” Her demand was blunt: “The NYPD’s Strategic Response Group must be disbanded as quickly as possible, and Commissioner Tisch must step down.”

The Facts Behind the Charge

The post concerned immigration officials shooting a suspected gang member as he fled arrest in a car. But according to the account of events, the NYPD didn’t assist ICE with the arrest. The Strategic Response Group also didn’t respond to the protest that followed. Those details matter: New York’s sanctuary-city laws bar police from helping ICE, and the record described here doesn’t show that the city crossed that line.

Pressure on Mamdani grew fast. State Senate candidate Illapa Sairitupac, whom the mayor also endorsed, piled on: “Abolish ICE, disband the SRG, fire Tisch.” The NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, whose leaders are close friends of the mayor, went further. “Jessica Tisch must get ICE out of New York and end NYPD complicity with these terrorists,” the group wrote. “If the Commissioner can’t put a stop to these injustices, she must be fired.”

City Hall Pushes Back

Inside the administration, officials were furious. One source with knowledge of the matter said staff “were pissed about what she did on social media and her public rhetoric on NYPD,” adding that City Hall’s response was, “what the f–k are you doing!” Another source said administration staff saw her remarks as “a direct undermining of Mamdani.”

City Hall also objected to Chevalier encouraging anti-ICE protests. Officials worried that visible disorder could give the Trump administration a pretext to flood the streets. Chevalier had written about being pushed during an aggressive protest in Marble Hill on Thursday night. Video showed her confronting a police supervisor, accusing him of escalating the situation. “She is throwing her own fireball rhetoric to rally the folks,” one source said. “But instigating doesn’t help.”

Mamdani appointed Tisch, and he has stood by her. During his campaign, he also pledged to disband the SRG, a promise his allies now want him to keep. After avoiding the city’s press corps for days, he faced a media firestorm over the dispute. Two other House candidates he endorsed, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez, didn’t join the calls to oust Tisch.

A Candidate Who Isn’t Backing Down

Insiders said Chevalier doesn’t plan to let the matter drop. She and her team were preparing a speech, possibly for Election Night or sooner, calling for Tisch to be fired. Sources said Mamdani’s adviser Morris Katz persuaded him to endorse Chevalier, though Mamdani wasn’t a fan. She was distancing herself from the mayor, even as most credited his backing and campaigning with helping her beat incumbent Democrat Adriano Espaillat in June’s primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District. The district is overwhelmingly blue, and winning the Democratic line all but guarantees her victory in next month’s general election.

Canvassers have strict instructions not to discuss Mamdani. Volunteers were told to say, “I can’t speak about the mayor, but I can tell you what Darializa is prioritizing.” One insider said the administration knows who its problems are, naming Council Speaker Julie Menin and Republicans, and that Chevalier “is on the dartboard.” The insider called her “a loose cannon” and added, “They are sick of her, and she’s not even started in Congress.”

Why This Matters: The dispute shows how hard it is to govern from the left once you hold power. Mamdani’s allies want a sanctuary city that actively shields immigrants from federal enforcement, as well as a police force reshaped to match campaign promises, including disbanding the SRG. Running City Hall means managing a police department, a federal government hostile to those goals, and the risk that street confrontations will prompt a heavier federal response. Immigrant communities have the most at stake in that balance.

The facts also offer activists and officials a caution: the NYPD reportedly didn’t assist ICE, so the case for firing Tisch rests on rhetoric and principle rather than a documented breach of the city’s sanctuary laws. How Mamdani handles the SRG pledge—and whether he can hold his coalition together—will show how much accountability a progressive mayor can deliver.