Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday wouldn’t disclose if he plans to maintain the place of deputy mayor for public security in his Metropolis Corridor.
Mamdani, following a Nov. 11 Veterans’ Day occasion within the Parkchester part of the Bronx, sidestepped a reporter’s query as as to if he would proceed to have a deputy mayor for public security — a place instituted by outgoing Mayor Eric Adams in the beginning of his time period.
“We continue to have those conversations internally on the question of not only personnel, but also the positions within city government,” Mamdani instructed a throng of reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
In the meantime, Mamdani continued to dodge questions on when he’ll meet with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who he has mentioned he desires to retain, about staying in her place when he takes over on Jan. 1.
“I continue to be confident in my decision to retain police Commissioner Tisch and I look forward to the conversations that we will have,” the mayor-elect mentioned.
He additionally declined to point if there are different candidates on his police commissioner quick listing, ought to Tisch determine that she doesn’t wish to keep previous the 12 months’s finish.
The mayor-elect’s remarks got here a day after he named his picks for his two prime Metropolis Corridor deputies — authorities veteran Dean Fuleihan as first deputy mayor and long-time aide Elle Bisgard-Church as chief of employees. Fuleihan, Bisgard-Church, and Mamdani’s transition staff, the 5 leaders of which he named final week, will presumably be figuring out whether or not to maintain or scrap the Adams-administration period place.
Mamdani was additionally mum on who he’ll faucet to steer his Division of Neighborhood Security — a brand new proposed metropolis company that he hopes will assume among the NYPD’s present obligations. He indicated that his latest appointees could be instrumental in serving to to search out the company’s first boss.
“So we will continue to make all deliberations on an assessment of excellence, not on the question of who was appointed by whom, but rather on the work they’re doing,” Mamdani mentioned. “I’m excited to start to put together our city government with First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan and my Chief of Staff Elle Bisgard-Church.”
The deputy mayor for public security submit, at present occupied by New York Metropolis Police Division alum Kaz Daughtry, oversees town companies together with the Fireplace Division, Division of Correction, and New York Metropolis Emergency Administration, amongst others. Nevertheless, they don’t supervise the NYPD, based on town’s organizational chart.
Daughtry is the third determine in Adams’ administration to carry the place, after his first two deputy mayors for public security — Phil Banks and Chauncey Parker — resigned.
Banks stepped down final fall after federal brokers raided his residence and seized his digital gadgets as a part of a corruption probe. Whereas he was not formally answerable for the NYPD, some reviews throughout Banks’ tenure indicated that he was working because the “shadow police commissioner.”
Parker then took over for just a few months, however resigned earlier this 12 months in protest, together with three different deputy mayors. His choice got here in response to President Trump’s Justice Division shifting to drop Mayor Adams’ federal bribery case, which many seen as a quid professional quo.
