Category: News
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he has no plans to remove NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, rejecting a demand from his Democratic Socialists of America allies after federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot and injured Oscar Belgal during a targeted operation in Marble Hill on Oct. 8.
Mamdani has condemned the federal operation and said his administration would review the events surrounding the shooting and the city’s response. But he has maintained that Tisch should remain in her post, separating his criticism of ICE from questions about the NYPD’s actions after the shooting.
The disagreement has sharpened scrutiny of how city officials respond when federal immigration enforcement intersects with local policing. The NYPD said it did not participate in the ICE operation and was not at the scene when the shooting began. Protesters later clashed with police, prompting accusations from demonstrators and activists that the department’s response amounted to complicity with federal enforcement.
Mamdani draws a line on Tisch
Mamdani made his position clear after the DSA called for Tisch’s removal. The mayor said, “Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner. I have no plans to change that,” while defending her record on combating corruption and reducing crime.
The statement put the mayor at odds with members of his political movement, who argued that the NYPD’s handling of events after the shooting warranted a change in leadership. The DSA demanded that Mamdani fire Tisch unless she could stop what the group described as police complicity with ICE and mistreatment of protesters.
Mamdani has not announced disciplinary action against Tisch over the incident. Instead, he has committed the administration to examining the shooting, the NYPD’s response and the events that followed. His position leaves the commissioner in place while the reviews proceed.
The split reflects competing demands on the new administration: pressure from allies to confront the NYPD’s conduct, and the mayor’s decision to retain a commissioner he has credited with addressing corruption and crime. The dispute has also drawn attention to the distinction between ICE’s actions during the operation and the NYPD’s subsequent response.
What happened in Marble Hill
ICE agents were carrying out a targeted operation in Marble Hill, in northern Manhattan, when Belgal was shot. According to preliminary information shared by Tisch at an Oct. 8 briefing, the 28-year-old was in a gray Honda CR-V with a five-year-old boy believed to be his son.
Tisch said evidence gathered by investigators indicated that at least one ICE agent fired seven rounds, striking Belgal in the neck below his left ear. NYPD cameras captured federal officers approaching the vehicle, but did not record the gunfire, she said. The account was preliminary, and officials said the federal investigation had taken over.
NYPD officers were nearby responding to an unrelated call when they heard gunfire, Tisch said. They arrived after the shooting, encountered Belgal handcuffed on the ground and provided aid before transporting him to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital. He was reported in stable condition. The child was later located safe and in the care of a family member.
Tisch said the NYPD had no involvement in the federal operation before the shooting and that no NYPD officers were present when shots were fired. City officials sharply criticized ICE’s tactics, including agents’ use of face coverings and construction-style vests, which Mamdani said made it difficult for residents to identify them as law enforcement.
Mamdani said he had asked federal officials to remove ICE agents from the scene and stop enforcement actions in New York City. He also condemned the shooting and raised concerns about the presence of a young child in the vehicle. Those criticisms were directed at the federal operation, not at Tisch for directing or participating in it.
Protest clashes intensified scrutiny
Demonstrations followed the shooting, including protests near the scene and at the hospital. Clashes between protesters and police fueled allegations that NYPD officers escalated confrontations or were protecting federal immigration enforcement. Those claims became part of the dispute over the department’s conduct, though they do not change the city’s account that NYPD officers were not involved in the operation before the shots were fired.
The DSA’s demand put the question of police accountability at the center of the political response. The group called for ICE to leave New York and urged Mamdani to remove Tisch if the commissioner could not prevent what it described as NYPD cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
City Hall, meanwhile, said the mayor had no plans to replace the commissioner. Mamdani’s continued support has not ended criticism from activists, but it has made clear that his administration is not treating the demand for Tisch’s removal as an immediate outcome of the incident.
Review will examine the city’s response
Mamdani announced a review covering the events of the preceding 24 hours, including the shooting and the city’s response. The review is intended to assess what happened around the incident, rather than serve as an announcement that Tisch would be dismissed. Officials have not publicly detailed a final timetable or set out all the review’s findings.
The city’s examination comes as the administration has also begun a broader review of NYPD use-of-force policies. The wider initiative is separate from the immediate review of the Marble Hill incident. New York News Daily previously reported on the administration’s NYPD use-of-force review and accountability measures.
The reviews may put the department’s policies and response procedures under closer scrutiny, while leaving open questions about how city officials will address public concerns over demonstrations and federal enforcement. The federal government’s control of the shooting investigation also limits the city’s ability to determine the facts of the ICE operation itself.
For now, Mamdani’s position is unchanged: he has condemned ICE’s actions, called for a review of the incident and the city’s response, and said Tisch will remain police commissioner. The DSA’s demand for her removal has exposed a political rift, while the reviews are expected to shape how the administration answers questions about police conduct and public accountability.
More local coverage is available in the New York News Daily News section.