Opinion: What If? Meet Her Honor, Mayor Tisch

“The availability of unmatched and unattached money enables Tisch to focus on issues and leave to her adversaries the risk of being bitten by sloppy financial bookkeeping, questionable contributions and potential quid pro quos.”

Admittedly, the odds of Jessica Tisch running for mayor this year are slim. Mayor Eric Adams recently tapped her to be police commissioner. She’d need the innermost strength to oppose him in the June primary. What’s more, based on 17 years of good-government experience, she appears to prefer the self-satisfaction of being an effective, behind-the-scenes policy-shaper and manager.

But let’s ponder a scenario in which the implausible happens, and she is persuaded to run against Adams and a swarm of other candidates in a five-month window. Here is what Tisch has going for her:

Family influence on a grand scale, the blessings of good fortune and propitious circumstances bode well for her election. The Tisch name is a brand. Ambition, success and wealth given to civic causes attach to it.  Foundations, a renowned art school, health research facilities, and corporate boards bear the Tisch stamp.

Jessica has not wasted the privileges and advantages bestowed on her. She graduated from Harvard with degrees in business and law. She chose the path of government service and has demonstrated analytic skills required to overcome complex citywide challenges.

Her campaign would be supported by the resources of Team Tisch at a level no other candidate can afford. Top political consultants would be paid to lay out a winning path.

This is reminiscent of the approach billionaire Mike Bloomberg took to gain and retain office. The key is self-funding. The availability of unmatched and unattached money enables Tisch to focus on issues and leave to her adversaries the risk of being bitten by sloppy financial bookkeeping, questionable contributions and potential quid pro quos.

The best public relations firms will craft her well-scripted official statements and message to voters, especially now that she has emerged as NYPD commissioner. She already has received positive press coverage for an impressive work history and her launch at 1 Police Plaza.

Several other factors put the wind at her back in this race and produce the synergy she needs to become our first woman mayor. Let’s be honest. Many New Yorkers want out of the incumbent’s style. Many prefer a what-you-see-is-what-you-get persona and someone who doesn’t claim anointment to office. But not being Mayor Adams is insufficient to out-poll rivals who are equally unlike him.

Tisch can quickly set herself apart from other entries in the Gracie Mansion Sweepstakes. The field of Democrats is spread thin with career politicians, almost all male: Adams, Lander, Mamdani, Myrie, Ramos, Stringer, Walden, and a likely Jumaane Williams. Curtis Sliwa has joined the pack as a Republican. Then there is alpha Cuomo circling them. Some are little known outside of their bases. The most familiar names carry baggage.

One thing these contenders can do, however, that Tisch cannot is denounce the record and character of the mayor she serves. Her appeal must be based on an ascendant resume.

She began as an analyst in the NYPD (2008) and was appointed by Bill Bratton to be deputy commissioner of information technology (2014). Under Mayor de Blasio, she became NYC commissioner of information technology and telecommunications (2019), then sanitation commissioner (2022), where she pushed for trash containerization.

When Mayor Adams picked her to be his fourth police commissioner in November, he praised Tisch as “a strong, battle-tested leader who will continue to drive down crime and ensure New Yorkers are safe and feel safe.” It would be hard for him to disparage her if she opts to run.

Her years as a forward-thinking civilian in the police department are an asset. We’re a city in fear of random violence, knifings, disorder, subway anxieties, etc. As Bratton, who helped bring Compstat to crime reduction said, Tisch is the right person to harness high-tech innovations, like the use of drones, and implement ways to advance crime-fighting.

Just eight weeks on the job have allowed Tisch to display grit and determination. Her profile-raising moments have included: a presser when Luigi Mangione was charged with murder; a shake-up of top NYPD brass; an ongoing management review of overtime practices; the re-assignment of desk cops to street duty; and the release of favorable crime stats. The need for an everyday sense of security and faith in our police force has a constituency that crosses all lines.

Finally, the primary will be a ranked-choice election. This counting procedure could put Tisch in the winner’s circle when voter preferences are considered. It augers well that getting so many first- and second-place tallies enabled her doppelganger civil servant, problem solver, and non-politician Kathryn Garcia to come within 1 percent of Adams in 2021. This time will a Tisch, with cash at her disposal and wearing a halo of competence, come up short?

A long shot maybe. But next New Year’s Day, on the steps of City Hall, don’t be stunned when Jessica Tisch takes the oath of office.

Fred Smith served as an administrative analyst for the NYC public schools. He worked with Wayne Barrett to deconstruct Mayor Giuliani’s crime reduction data and has contributed opinion pieces to City Limits.