Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday named Jessica Tisch, the city's Sanitation Commissioner, as the New York City Police Department's commissioner. With this new role, Tisch will be the second woman to hold the position in the nation's largest police department.
The NYPD had been going through a turbulent time with both the previous commissioner and their successor coming under FBI investigation. In September, former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban had resigned amid a federal investigation. Meanwhile, just days later, interim commissioner Tom Donlon also informed of being searched by the FBI.
"The people of this city have been clear that they agree with what our administration has been fighting for since day one in office: a safer city where they don't need to worry about walking down the street or taking the subway at night," Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday. "To ensure New Yorkers have the ability to thrive in our city, we need a strong, battle-tested leader who will continue to drive down crime and ensure New Yorkers are safe and feel safe, and I cannot think of a leader more up to the task than Commissioner Jessica Tisch."
Who is Jessica Tisch?
Born on Feb. 1, 1981, in New York, Tisch began her career in 2008 with the NYPD. The Harvard University graduate was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) in April 2022, overseeing waste collection, recycling, disposal, and street cleaning across 6,500 miles of city streets. She became TikTok famous in 2022 when she declared, "The rats don't run the city, we do."
Before her tenure at DSNY, Tisch served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) and as the city's chief information officer from December 2019 to January 2022. In that role, she managed the country's largest municipal IT organization, with a broad portfolio encompassing public safety, human services, economic development, and the 311 services. Tisch also introduced the city's first text-to-911 service.
During her time at DoITT, Tisch was a key member of the team that managed the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, developing and overseeing critical programs, including the city's vaccination system, to support New Yorkers during the crisis.
She married Daniel Zachary Levine in 2016, and the couple has two boys together.
