NYC Mayor Eric Adams to replace Acting NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon – NBC New York

NEW YORK – Mayor Eric Adams confirmed Thursday afternoon that he is looking for someone new to lead the New York City Police, but could the current Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation be on the short list for the position?

In an exclusive interview with Telemundo 47, Adams said that interim commissioner Tom Donlon will soon step down until he can be replaced by a permanent police commissioner.

“We are finishing that process,” he said.

Former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban resigned last month from his post leading the nation’s largest police department amid a federal investigation into nightclub enforcement, according to a memo obtained by our sister network NBC New York.

Caban, who was appointed in July 2023, was the first Latino to serve as NYPD commissioner in its 179-year history.

Donlon assumed his duties as acting NYPD commissioner, the third chief police officer of the Adams administration to date, when the outgoing chief stepped down.

However, a week after he was named acting commissioner, federal authorities searched Donlon’s homes and seized items unrelated to his police work.

The unprecedented and unexpected investigation came as the Adams administration reeled from other federal law enforcement investigations.

Sources told NBC New York that Jessica Tisch, the current commissioner of the Sanitation Department with previous experience as a crime strategist in the police, is one of the leading contenders to run the nation’s largest police department full-time. .

“I think Commissioner Tisch has done an outstanding job with the health agency, she has been incredible and absolutely committed to our constituents,” said a New York City Council spokesperson. Adrienne Adams, when asked about Tisch on Thursday, also said that the turmoil surrounding the mayor so far has not affected city services.

“I can honestly and fortunately say that we haven’t seen a negative imbalance,” Adrienne said.

At the same time, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the power to restore the mayor, this week that she advises Adams on many of the changes in the city government.

In recent weeks there has been a growing list of top officials leaving the Adams administration as half a dozen separate investigations surround many key members of the mayor’s staff and Adams himself. .

Even though polls show more than two-thirds of New Yorkers want him to step down, Adams vowed to stay in office after pleading not guilty last week for allegations that he accepted approximately $100,000 in free or deeply discounted international flights, hotel stays, meals and entertainment and solicited illegal donations to campaigns by foreign interests.

If Adams does not resign, 63% of New Yorkers would want Hochul to take steps to remove him, the poll found. In response to the Marist poll, the mayor said Friday that voters will be convinced when they hear his side of the story.

Under the charges against him, Adams was accused of accepting illegal donations from straw donors; where applicable, conspiring to receive campaign contributions from Turkish citizens and concealing the payments by channeling them through US citizens. That allowed Adams to unlock public funds that provide an eight-to-one ratio for small grants, prosecutors said.