Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch testifies earlier than the New York Metropolis Council throughout a funds listening to on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, the place lawmakers questioned her on the proposed Division of Group Security, the way forward for the Strategic Response Group and NYPD staffing.
Photograph by Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit.
Wednesday, March 18, marked the 77th day of Zohran Mamdani’s time period as mayor. New York News is following Mamdani round his first 100 days in workplace. We’re carefully monitoring his progress on fulfilling marketing campaign guarantees, appointing key leaders to authorities posts, and managing town’s funds. Right here’s a abstract of what the mayor did.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch used a Metropolis Council funds listening to Wednesday to sign how the NYPD plans to function underneath Mayor Zohran Mamdani, telling lawmakers {that a} proposed Division of Group Security would have an effect on solely a small share of police calls and that ongoing discussions concerning the Strategic Response Group are “not to disband” the unit however concern “the future of how we police protests generally.”
Tisch stated the NYPD had mentioned which kinds of calls may be moved to the Division of Group Security, however argued the sensible impact could be restricted. Out of roughly 4.3 million requires service, she stated, about 123,000 had been psychological health-related and about 85,793 nonviolent calls would possibly qualify for diversion underneath town’s current framework — about 2% of the division’s name quantity.
The listening to got here after Mamdani had already used a latest police taking pictures to argue for the brand new Division of Group Security. In early February, after the NYPD taking pictures of Jabez Chakraborty in Queens, Mamdani stated town ought to pace creation of the division, casting the case as proof that psychological well being crises shouldn’t default to police response.
That broader push was echoed Wednesday in New York News, the place Dana Rachlin and Alex Vitale — each of whom served on the Group Security Subcommittee of Mamdani’s transition workforce — argued that New York has “never built the infrastructure required” to deal with acute crises exterior regulation enforcement and referred to as the proposed Division of Group Security the mayor’s “moonshot.”
The listening to additionally revisited a funds battle inherited from the top of former Mayor Eric Adams’ tenure. Adams’ administration inserted funding late final yr meant to develop the NYPD by 5,000 officers by fiscal 2029, a plan allies later cited to argue that Mamdani had “cut” these cops when his administration eliminated the cash from its preliminary funds.
Tisch rejected that framing.
“They never existed,” she instructed the Council, calling the narrative “absurd” as a result of the division had not really added these officers. She stated the present power of about 35,000 officers was “strong” in a metropolis with restricted assets and made clear she was not searching for to revive the Adams-era blanket growth.
As a substitute, the highest cop stated any future staffing requests must be tied to particular operational wants, not a broad numerical goal. She pointed to the deliberate cut up of the Bronx patrol construction as one instance that may require about 200 further officers.
On SRG, Tisch acknowledged that she was conscious of Mamdani’s issues concerning the unit and confirmed that she had spoken with the mayor about them. Mamdani, each as a candidate and as mayor, has stated he needs the Strategic Response Group disbanded.
However she stated the conversations weren’t about abolishing SRG outright. She defended the division’s present protest posture by saying group affairs officers and patrol officers deal with peaceable demonstrations, whereas SRG could also be deployed if prison exercise happens and arrests are anticipated. In 2025, she stated, the NYPD facilitated 4,255 protests, with SRG on standby at 245 of them and referred to as in to make arrests at 41.
Mayor Mamdani and PC Jessica Tisch march in Tuesday’s St Patrick’s Day paradePhoto by Dean Moses
The gang database additionally emerged as an necessary fault line, a lot as SRG has. Tisch stated the NYPD’s database now accommodates about 8,000 people, down 56% from 2019, and defended it as an operational instrument that helps investigators determine crews and reply to shootings.
That places her at odds with Mamdani’s earlier political stance; earlier than turning into mayor, he had sharply criticized the database and referred to as for dismantling it, arguing that it functioned as a dragnet aimed disproportionately at younger New Yorkers of shade.
The listening to unfolded lower than two weeks after an tried bombing exterior Gracie Mansion that Tisch stated was being investigated as an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism. Two Pennsylvania males had been charged after authorities stated they tried to detonate improvised explosive gadgets throughout dueling protests close to the mayor’s residence. Throughout Wednesday’s listening to, Tisch stated she had simply spoken with the top of the bomb squad and would quickly meet to debate any new tools requests.
On nationwide safety, Tisch used the listening to to warn that New York is going through a discount in federal counterterror assist at a precarious second. She stated homeland safety grant funding was lower 40% from federal fiscal 2024 ranges, costing the NYPD an anticipated $36 million, and famous the division additionally didn’t obtain Port Safety Grant funding.
Lawmakers additionally pressed Tisch on the division’s broader fiscal posture, particularly over time. The NYPD stated its fiscal-year extra time funds stands at $929.4 million, and projected precise spending is about $1.028 billion. Tisch argued that this nonetheless represented enchancment over the earlier yr and forged the problem as considered one of administration self-discipline fairly than power measurement.
Mamdani names Gregory Anderson to guide the Sanitation Division
Mayor Mamdani seems with outgoing Appearing Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan throughout a Division of Sanitation shift change in Brooklyn on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.Photograph by Ed Reed/Mayoral Pictures Workplace
Mamdani introduced Wednesday that Gregory Anderson will take over as commissioner of the Division of Sanitation, placing a former company official again in cost as town continues a broad overhaul of the way it handles trash.
Anderson returns to the division after almost a decade in a spread of senior roles, the place he labored on coverage, operations, and exterior affairs. Metropolis Corridor stated he helped form a number of high-profile sanitation initiatives, together with town’s transfer towards containerized trash assortment, curbside composting, and industrial waste reform.
Within the announcement, Mamdani referred to as Anderson’s appointment “a well-deserved homecoming” and stated he would assist carry ahead tasks he had a hand in constructing.
The appointment provides the mayor a commissioner with expertise each inside DSNY and in state authorities. Most just lately, Anderson served as deputy director of state operations underneath Gov. Kathy Hochul, the place he supported administration throughout dozens of state companies and coordinated emergency response efforts throughout storms and different main occasions.
He now takes over one of many metropolis’s most seen companies. The sanitation division has almost 10,000 staff and is answerable for amassing tens of millions of kilos of trash every day, plowing snow, and holding streets clear throughout the 5 boroughs.
The management change comes at a consequential second for DSNY. The company is in the midst of main modifications to residential waste assortment as town pushes to get extra trash off sidewalks and into containers. Officers are additionally persevering with to increase curbside composting whereas managing the operational pressure and prices related to an intense winter season.
Anderson, in an announcement launched by Metropolis Corridor, stated he needs town to consider cleanliness extra broadly, not simply because the removing of trash however because the situation of public house and neighborhood life. He stated his aim is to ship “the promise of a clean city.”
Javier Lojan, who has led the division as performing commissioner for greater than a yr, will return to his earlier function as first deputy commissioner.
