This may have been Zohran Mamdani’s toughest week as mayor. For the past year, the corporate press, right-wing pundits, and centrist Democrats have smeared him relentlessly. But last week, the attacks came from the left, aimed at a decision that’s increasingly hard to defend: keeping his police commissioner, Jessica Tisch.
Welcome back to Mamdani Bulletin’s weekly newsletter. We start with the administration’s latest actions from the past week — and then get into the context.
Since October 4, the Mamdani administration:
… expanded free child care to 10,000 more kids. Low-income families stuck on a voucher waitlist for more than a year will now have their care covered.
… moved to let New Yorkers sue predatory corporations. The POWER Act would let people take companies to court over unfair or abusive practices, not just deception.
… started work to speed up slow Brooklyn buses. New bus lanes and safety upgrades will serve 35,000 daily riders.
… put mental health care a few clicks away. A new site matches New Yorkers with more than 600 providers by insurance, language and availability.
… teamed up with unions to make city jobs faster to land. The city will overhaul the outdated civil service system, which fills most of the city’s 300,000-plus jobs.
… kept free late-night soccer fields open. After 4,500 people played during the World Cup pilot, five fields will stay lit until 2am this fall and next summer.
… began turning an empty firehouse into a music school for kids. The $18 million project will help kids from low-income families learn string instruments.
“We know that ICE is rotten to its core. […] New York City will not stand by while ICE agents shoot New Yorkers. And we will not back down from the demand that so many, including myself, have put forward time and again. This is an agency that must be abolished.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Oct. 8 2026 (video snippet)
Critiqued from the left
Some pro-Palestine advocates say Mamdani is backing away from his solidarity. He is undoubtedly the most pro-Palestine mayor in modern New York history: scrapping pro-Israel executive orders, urging divestment from Israel bonds, marking Nakba Day, and calling Netanyahu a war criminal.
But at an October 7 vigil, protesters attacked him for inaction. He has kept police commissioner Jessica Tisch, who has overseen crackdowns on pro-Palestine protests, including by the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG) — a unit Mamdani pledged to disband. And synagogues have hosted sales of Zionist-occupied Palestinian land this year, with NYPD officers holding back protesters.
“Zohran has already succeeded in his career beyond all expectations. He doesn’t need us to defend him against people protesting on the side of [genocide victims]. […] Fire Tisch, disband the SRG, move some police funding to the department of community safety, and ban the illegal land sales.”
@OrangeFreddyG, Leftist political content creator
Mamdani’s NYPD is undermining his own promise to protect immigrants. Mamdani campaigned on immigrant rights, and he has since barred ICE from city property without a warrant, shielded immigrants’ personal data, launched a citywide know-your-rights campaign, and required the NYPD to audit its cooperation with ICE, .
But last week, an ICE agent fired seven rounds into a car, hitting a man sitting with his five-year-old child. With NYPD protection, ICE transported the detained man out of the city. And the NYPD then violently cracked down on protesters — including Democratic Congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier, who was pushed to the ground by officers.
“The NYPD spent more time protecting a militia that just shot someone than protecting New Yorkers. 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. The NYPD’s Strategic Response Group must be disbanded as quickly as possible, and Commissioner Tisch must step down.”
Darializa Avila Chevalier, Democratic nominee (NY-13)
So why keep Tisch? Some reasons are more palatable than others. Major crime is at a record low, and keeping her may preserve that stability. She is a close ally of Governor Hochul, whose support Mamdani relies on. And she has personal ties to the Trump family, with the president citing Tisch as a reason he’s comfortable with Mamdani — which may help explain why NYC has been spared the large-scale ICE raids seen elsewhere.
The darker reasons are hard to dismiss. Every mayor who has taken on the NYPD has paid for it, most notoriously David Dinkins. In 1992, thousands of off-duty officers rioted outside City Hall, hurling racist slurs, over his push for independent police oversight.
And could Tisch may be more dangerous outside the administration than in it? She commands the loyalty of a 35,000-strong armed force, with a budget larger than many militaries. She is from one of New York’s wealthiest families, with deep ties to state and federal power, the business world, and the media. Push her out, and Mamdani risks turning that entire machine against himself, and against the city. Keep her, and he risks losing the movement that elected him.
Bloomberg had some good environmental initiatives but nobody wanted him for president lol
I believe the NYPD indirectly destroyed Mike Bloomberg's chance for the Presidency by their aggressive use of Stop-and-Frisk, which was used by Elizabeth Warren to attack Bloomberg during the presidential debates.