An unconventional NYPD pick

An unconventional NYPD pick
By JEFF COLTIN, NICK REISMAN and EMILY NGO | 11/21/2024 07:00 AM EST
Presented by
With Timmy Facciola
‘A REAL RULE FOLLOWER’: The scion of a wealthy family from Manhattan’s east side
never served as a cop but just got appointed police commissioner at a relatively young age
after reforming another government agency.
Teddy Roosevelt went on to become president. Jessica Tisch’s future has yet to be
written.
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Mayor Eric Adams’ pick for his fourth police commissioner is not unprecedented, but
that doesn’t make it any less unconventional.
She’s a woman who’s never carried a badge — a different kind of blueblood than the
outer borough cops who the mayor has seen himself reflected in.
But Tisch did serve 12 years in the NYPD as a civilian, rising to lead technology in the
department, before getting tapped to lead the city’s I.T. agency and then the Department of
Sanitation.
In retrospect, Adams’ pick feels obvious. He’s obsessed with new technology in the
NYPD, and since the K5 robocop can’t legally be commissioner, he went with the wellregarded policing technology expert who was already loyally serving in his admin.
In Tisch, Adams is getting somebody who knows the department’s culture and is beloved
in City Hall as someone who can “Get Stuff Done” — like trash containerization and
citywide composting.
He’s getting “a real rule follower” who is “committed to applying standards
uniformly,” someone close to Tisch told Playbook.
Perhaps most importantly, after ex-Commissioner Edward Caban and Adams’ top two
public safety advisers got sacked amid corruption investigations, Tisch is viewed as
incorruptible. Her family’s $10.1 billion net worth (in hotels, commercial insurance, gas
pipelines, etc.) is larger than the NYPD’s massive operating budget of $6.2 billion.
“She’s not beholden to anybody. She’s a Tisch,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a consultant and
close watcher of law enforcement. “She doesn’t have to worry. She can just do her work.
That’s an extraordinary position to be in.”
Tisch, however, isn’t expected to break up the camera-hungry cabal of upperechelon cops that includes Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, who has earned the
mayor’s trust. “No one was going to become police commissioner who didn’t fit into that
core structure, who wasn’t respected by them,” an Adams adviser told Playbook.
The guys at the top understand that “she’s going to be the boss,” said former NYPD Chief
of Department Terence Monahan, who praised her as a “great choice.
“How often did you see Caban doing a press conference? How often was he front and
center on decision making?” Monahan said. “I think you’re going to see her front and
center.”
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The abrupt announcement Wednesday was a surprise to many City Hall staffers. But
Tisch was a favorite of Adams’ closest advisers.
Former Chief of Staff Frank Carone was “100 percent behind” Tisch, a person
familiar with the matter told Playbook. And Chief Adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin is a big fan
— and only missed the announcement Wednesday for the funeral of a close friend.
“I have full confidence in the new commissioner of the NYPD, Jessica Tisch, to make
the department even more stellar, if possible, than it already is,” Lewis-Martin told
Playbook. “And I thank Acting Commissioner Donlon for holding the fort. God bless the
NYPD.”
Well-liked in City Hall, Tisch’s biggest challenge may be winning over the rank-and-file
cops.
“A lot of people felt that she was put in by Daddy, so to speak,” a city Sanitation worker
said about her reputation in the department she’s led for three years.
“Everybody assumed we were the stepping stone to where she wanted to be next.” —
Jeff Coltin
HAPPY THURSDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and
Nick Reisman.
A message from Uber:
Study Reveals Uber Drivers Make More than EMTs: NYC Uber
drivers now earn an average of $52,900 annually after expenses, outpacing
the salaries of many essential city employees, including EMTs and
sanitation workers. Despite delivering vital services, these workers struggle
with stagnant wages while Uber drivers have benefited from five TLCmandated pay hikes since 2020. Read more on the wage disparity impacting
NYC’s workforce. Learn More.
WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City.
WHERE’S ERIC? Making an infrastructure- and jobs-related announcement, delivering
remarks at The Broadway Association’s monthly lunch, and hosting a roundtable
discussion with Trinidad and Tobago community leaders.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We have a leadership crisis in America, and nowhere is it more
profound than in New York.” — Rep. Ritchie Torres of the Bronx, telling NY1 he is not
ruling out a challenge to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
ABOVE THE FOLD
VICTORY LAP: After waging war with New York GOP Chair Ed Cox for his moderate
sensibilities, the New York Young Republican Club has emerged victorious with the
election of President-elect Donald Trump.
What seemed dead — namely, any hope that New Yorkers might vote Republican — now
seems quite viable.
Under the leadership of club President Gavin Wax and through coordination with the
Trump campaign, the NYYRC has established itself as a MAGA outpost on the blue isle of
Manhattan, and its members gathered last night in the East Village for a victory party –
where they discussed with eager anticipation the mass deportations and increased tariffs
that Trump, their past keynote speaker, has promised them.
Trump’s win is trickling down — club member and gala speaker Elise Stefanik was recently
nominated to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations and former club member
Karoline Leavitt will serve as Trump’s White House press secretary.
It was the brainchild of NYYRC campaign chair Mario Nicoletto to dispatch 80 club
members to Pennsylvania to canvas for Trump.
“We knocked on north of 10,000 doors in Bucks County, a bellwether county, one of the
most important for the state in the election,” Nicoletto told Playbook. “We made over
50,000 calls in Pennsylvania exclusively coordinating with the Trump team. It was
amazing.”
The NYYRC rallied for Trump when others in his party were less comfortable doing so. On
the day of Donald Trump’s first Manhattan court appearance in April 2023, the club
organized a rally across the street from the courthouse and brought in MAGA loyalists like
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and political operative Jack Posobiec.
“Obviously, President Trump was stuck in New York for various reasons, and we were able
to present opportunities like the bodega visit, like the Bronx rally, which played off the time
that he spent here,” NYYRC Vice President Nathan Berger said.
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Last December, Wax’s loyalty was rewarded when Trump agreed to headline the club’s
annual winter gala at Cipriani Wall St.
They sat next to each other at dinner. Wax ribbed him on social media later for putting
ketchup on his steak. Trump in turn praised Wax’s leadership from the dais and urged him
to marry his then-girlfriend and former club communications chair Chelsea Hall.
Wax was home last night with Hall and their new baby, while his staff celebrated.
The club coordinated with the Trump campaign to provide volunteers for Trump’s rally at
Madison Square Garden last month as well. And they’re poised to whisper in his ear once
he gets back in the White House next year.
“The New York GOP could learn a few things from us, or they can continue to be a glorified
welfare office for has-been political consultants,” Wax told Playbook in a statement. “We
need a party that understands the movement, understands the times we are living in, and
understands how to win elections and grow the party. Instead we have almost two decades
of failed party leadership that is incapable of winning a statewide election.” —Timmy
Facciola
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CITY HALL: THE LATEST
DECISION DAY: The mayor’s citywide housing blueprint is up for a key City Council
committee vote today – with possible compromises limiting the scope of some of its most
contentious provisions.
The potential for carve-outs to the City of Yes plan is prompting concerns from multiple
mayoral candidates, advocates and some council members.
Four candidates looking to unseat Adams next year — city Comptroller Brad Lander, state
Sen. Zellnor Myrie, former comptroller Scott Stringer and Assemblymember Zohran
Mamdani — all released statements Wednesday pledging support for the plan. Myrie urged
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the council to “not water down solutions,” Lander said the city must not “prioritize parking
spaces over housing in transit-rich neighborhoods,” and Mamdani said he “oppose[s]
changes that would create less housing,” particularly to the parking provision.
The initial plan would nix parking mandates citywide, as is already the case in much of
Manhattan. Changes floated in negotiations — with the geographic boundaries and other
details still in flux Wednesday — would instead create three different sets of rules.
The mandates would be eliminated in neighborhoods including Williamsburg, Astoria and
Harlem, reduced in places like the south Bronx and central Brooklyn, and left almost as is
in the far reaches of the outer boroughs, according to multiple people familiar with the
talks. A provision to allow apartments on single-family lots would also be subject to
geographic restrictions, with areas prone to flooding potentially carved out.
Any agreement on the land use changes is contingent on a funding deal for affordable
housing and infrastructure, which the legislative body has demanded alongside “City of
Yes.”
Tweaks to the zoning proposal will almost certainly change the estimated number of homes
the plan will create — which is an already-modest sum of up to 109,000 over 15 years.
“There are certain districts in the city that are infamous for being against new housing
being built, but the whole intent was to build housing equitably, so if you roll back those
measures, what’s the point of doing this in the first place?” Council Member Julie Won,
who represents dense Long Island City, said Wednesday. — Janaki Chadha
VE-GONE: Rachel Atcheson, a longtime Adams aide who was by his side every single day
as his “body person” in 2022, is leaving the administration next month.
Atcheson, a deputy director in the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, told Playbook she’s
leaving next month to launch a nonprofit called Food Policy Pathways, which will focus on
mentoring “the next generation of food policy professionals into city, state and federal
government.”
“I am an ardent supporter of the mayor,” said Atcheson, who started at Brooklyn Borough
Hall in 2018 and worked on the 2021 campaign. She’ll be “cheering them on the outside”
and said she isn’t leaving because of the tumult. “I genuinely think that food policy
nationally is trailing New York City, and there’s a lot of progress to be made.”
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City hospitals offering vegan meals and a Lifestyle Medicine program counseling patients
on healthy eating are a couple of examples.
Atcheson is getting married next year to Sean McElwee, a founder of the progressive think
tank Data for Progress. A committed plant-based eater, she worked closely on Adams’
memoir/cookbook, which was published ahead of his campaign. — Jeff Coltin
ADAMS COURT DATE: The judge overseeing Adams’ case ordered federal prosecutors
and the mayor’s lawyers to meet privately to discuss the feasibility of starting the trial on
April 1, 2025.
The two sides have been dueling over discovery, as the mayor’s team tries to move up the
start of the trial, which Judge Dale Ho scheduled for April 21, 2025 — two months before
the Democratic primary where Adams plans to stand for reelection. — Jeff Coltin
More from the city:
— Lab tests challenged the Department of Correction’s claim that drugs are smuggled
into Rikers through the mail — they’re coming in through staff. (Daily News)
— Council Member Chi Ossé’s TikToks helped him pass the bill curbing broker fees.
(City & State)
— Council Member Julie Menin will introduce a bill today that would ban single-use
vapes. (New York Post)
A message from Uber:
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NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Hochul allies at The Business Council of New York State are
raising fresh alarm bells over the state’s planned transition to renewable forms of energy.
The lobby group and a coalition of private-sector organizations have teamed up to urge
Hochul to take a sober path toward the state’s energy generation. And in a recent letter to
the governor, the groups called for an updated assessment of how the state plans to
generate energy.
“We need a detailed technical review that results in an updated state energy plan that
considers the totality of issues — and that is driven by a pragmatic approach as opposed to
extreme voices advocating unrealistic outcomes,” the organizations wrote in the letter to
the governor.
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The business groups encouraged an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy, including the
development of nuclear power.
The governor next year will face ongoing pressure from private sector organizations that
are increasingly concerned with the impact of clean energy benchmarks required under the
Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
That measure has the sweeping potential to change how New Yorkers power their homes,
businesses and transportation.
Environmental organizations, meanwhile, have been pressing the governor to stick to the
climate law’s goals — pressure that will build as the incoming Trump administration could
reverse course on clean energy and emissions rules.
There’s also the political crosscurrents for Hochul: She faces reelection in two years, and
the energy debate could seep into Republican attacks.
Hochul spokesperson Paul DeMichele touted the state’s broad energy mix, including the
recent installation of 6 gigawatts of distributed solar, offshore wind development and a
push to explore nuclear technology.
“We have been a leader in those efforts while also attracting new businesses to grow the
state’s economy,” DeMichele said in a statement to Playbook. “And through it all, the
governor has remained laser-focused on her commitment to prioritizing fiscal
responsibility and ensuring affordability for all New Yorkers as part of our clean energy
transition.” — Nick Reisman
More from Albany:
— Trump’s second term could have a major impact on New York schools. (NYS Focus)
— A rural housing advocate says underserved areas need funding from the state.
(Spectrum News)
— The state spent $4 million rehabbing a historic ship that sold at a much lower price.
(Times Union)
Policy Change is Coming: Be prepared, be proactive, be a Pro.
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Legislative and Regulatory trackers for comprehensive policy
tracking across all industries. Learn more.
KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION
CONGESTION GRIPING: Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Mike Lawler in the past two
weeks have taken their fight against congestion pricing from the foot of the Verrazano
Bridge to the steps of the U.S. Capitol, appealing anew Wednesday to President-elect
Donald Trump to intervene as a lifelong New Yorker.
Hochul un-paused the plan to charge drivers coming into parts of Manhattan by lowering
the toll to $9 from $15, and the clock is ticking to get it implemented before Trump takes
office. Congestion pricing could put the governor and Democrats in political peril — Hochul
is seeking reelection in 2026 and Lawler has been floated as a top GOP challenger.
“Only Kathy Hochul would call a toll that is going from zero today to $9 a tax cut,”
Malliotakis said Wednesday in Washington.
“Nothing unites us more than fighting Kathy Hochul’s terrible policies,” Long Island Rep.
Nick LaLota said, joining Malliotakis, Lawler and Anthony D’Esposito.
Congestion pricing critics don’t dispute that the MTA needs funding, but they argue the
revenue can be found through crackdowns on fare-beating and clawing back shelter and aid
for newly arrived migrants.
Hochul recently has sought to hit back at blue-state House Republicans concerned about
affordability for not repealing the cap on state and local tax deductions, or SALT, during
their time in office.
“Those of you who complain about the cost of congestion pricing, you don’t have a lot of
credibility with me because you just instituted an $11,000 on average increase for New
Yorkers, what they have to pay by not being able to deduct it,” the governor said this week
at a Crain’s New York Business and Partnership for New York City fireside chat. — Emily
Ngo
More from Congress:
— Rep. Adriano Espaillat was unanimously elected as chair of the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus. (his X post)
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— The Congressional Black Caucus will be the “vanguard for Black communities
across the country” when Trump takes office, Rep. Yvette Clarke says. (The Grio)
— Malliotakis hands out Holtermann’s cakes at Capitol in solidarity with the Staten
Island bakery. (Staten Island Advance)
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
— Former Georgia election workers have asked a judge to hold former NYC Mayor
Rudy Giuliani in contempt for repeating false claims. (POLITICO)
— The city of Buffalo will pay $10 million to settle lawsuits filed by two men convicted
for a murder they didn’t commit. (Buffalo News)
— Chip maker GlobalFoundries is getting $1.5 billion for its Saratoga County
manufacturing facility. (Spectrum News)
A message from Uber:
Study Shows Uber Drivers making over $52k while NYC Heroes
Get Left Behind
A new study reveals a growing wage divide in New York City: Uber drivers
are making an average of $52,900 a year after expenses, while city
employees like EMTs and sanitation workers starting salaries are below
$44,000. Since 2020, rideshare drivers have received five pay increases
through TLC mandates while many frontline city workers face stagnant
wages amid rising living costs. This gap underscores an evolving dynamic in
NYC’s workforce, where gig workers see consistent earnings growth while
essential city roles lag behind. This pay disparity is raising questions about
the city’s priorities and the need for equitable wages in public service amidst
the affordability crisis.
Read the full story to see how gig work earnings are reshaping NYC’s labor
landscape. Learn More.
SOCIAL DATA
Edited by Daniel Lippman
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) (6-0) … civil liberties lawyer
Norman Siegel … Assemblymember Taylor Darling … NYC Council Member Eric
Dinowitz … Tina Brown … developer Daniel Brodsky … Raven Robinson … Gil
Cygler … ABC’s Rick Klein … Bret Stephens … Valerie Berlin of BerlinRosen …
Mallory Shelbourne … Alexis Weiss … Gabriel Panek … Max Abelson … Anthony
Randazzo … (WAS WEDNESDAY): David Einhorn … Jay P. Lefkowitz
Missed Wednesday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.
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