Mayor Zohran Mamdani's political circle is furious with a congressional candidate he endorsed after she called for the firing of the police commissioner he appointed. One source called Darializa Avila Chevalier's remarks “a direct undermining of Mamdani.”
Chevalier, a socialist House candidate who won her June primary with the mayor's backing, said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch must step down. For now, Mamdani is standing by his pick.
The Post That Set It Off
A social media post last Friday set off the clash. Chevalier wrote about immigration officials shooting a suspected gang member as he fled arrest in a car. She accused Tisch and the NYPD of violating the city's sanctuary-city laws, which bar police from assisting ICE. “Last night, the NYPD and Commissioner Tisch violated the spirit, if not the letter, of our sanctuary city policies and fueled the Trump Administration's attempt to demonize our communities,” she wrote in a nearly 400-word post. “The NYPD's Strategic Response Group must be disbanded as quickly as possible, and Commissioner Tisch must step down.”
Here's the catch: the NYPD didn't assist ICE in the immigration arrest, and the Strategic Response Group didn't respond to the protest. By her own account, her charge rested on the “spirit,” not the letter, of the law.
City Hall Pushes Back
Inside the administration, the response was blunt. A source with knowledge of the matter said, “They were pissed about what she did on social media and her public rhetoric on NYPD,” adding, “City Hall was like, ‘what the f–k are you doing!’” Another source said administration staffers complained that “this was a direct undermining of Mamdani.”
Public order worried officials, too. Sources said City Hall was annoyed that Chevalier encouraged anti-ICE protests and feared signs of disorder could hand the Trump administration a reason to flood the streets. Chevalier had written about being pushed during an aggressive protest in Marble Hill Thursday night. Video showed her getting in a police supervisor's face and accusing him of escalating the situation. “She is throwing her own fireball rhetoric to rally the folks,” one source said, adding, “But instigating doesn't help.”
The Left Piles On
Chevalier wasn't alone. DSA member and state Senate candidate Illapa Sairitupac, also endorsed by Mamdani, joined in, writing, “Abolish ICE, disband the SRG, fire Tisch.” The NYC DSA chapter, 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 on social media. “If the Commissioner can't put a stop to these injustices, she must be fired.”
The dispute sparked a media firestorm for Mamdani. He appointed Tisch, described in the report as a Zionist Jew, despite his and his party's outspoken criticism of Israel. He also pledged during his campaign to disband the SRG. After avoiding the city's press corps for days, he faced demands from socialist allies and the national DSA chapter to remove Tisch and fulfill that pledge. The other two House candidates Mamdani endorsed, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez, didn't make similar calls.
A Candidate Distancing Herself
Insiders said Chevalier doesn't plan to stop. She and her team were working on a speech, potentially for Election Night or earlier, calling for Tisch to be fired. Sources said Mamdani's adviser Morris Katz persuaded him to endorse her, but Mamdani wasn't a fan. She was distancing herself from the mayor even though most credited his backing and campaigning with helping her beat incumbent Democrat Adriano Espaillat in the 13th Congressional District primary in June.
The district is overwhelmingly blue. Winning the Democratic line all but guarantees Chevalier's victory in the general election next month. Sources said canvassers had 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.”
City Hall saw trouble coming. Sources said Chevalier had been on Mamdani's radar as a potential liability for some time, though they hadn't expected her to become an issue so soon. One insider said, “They are not naive to who their problems are — [Council Speaker Julie] Menin, Republicans, etc., and she is on the dartboard.” The insider added, “She's a loose cannon,” and, “They are sick of her, and she's not even started in Congress.”
Why This Matters:
The fight shows the strain between governing and activism. Mamdani picked a commissioner and keeps her, yet his own endorsed candidates and the DSA want her fired over something the NYPD, by the report's account, didn't do. That leaves the mayor defending an institution his allies want dismantled, while facing pressure to honor his campaign pledge to disband the SRG. For New Yorkers, the practical question is whether the city's police leadership gets steady backing or becomes a bargaining chip in a left-wing factional fight. Chevalier's near-certain win next month means this tension is headed to Washington, not away from City Hall. Stable, accountable policing depends on leaders who aren't second-guessed by their own coalition.
- zohran mamdani
- darializa avila chevalier
- jessica tisch
- nypd
- ice
- democratic socialists of america
- marble hill
- sanctuary city