NYC Mayor Eric Adams names Loews heiress Jessica Tisch to lead the NYPD

New York's heiress sanitation commissioner is moving from the war on rats to the war on crime.

Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday named Jessica Tisch the second woman to serve as police commissioner of the nation's largest city as he worked to stabilize his administration amid an upcoming corruption trial and multiple federal investigations.

Tisch replaces interim top cop Tom Donlon and former police commissioner Edward Caban, the Adams appointee who resigned in September amid a probe into the NYPD's enforcement of nightclub regulations.

City residents "need a strong, battle-tested leader who will continue to drive down crime and ensure New Yorkers are safe and feel safe," Adams said in a statement. "I cannot think of a leader more up to the task than Commissioner Jessica Tisch."

Tisch currently runs the city's massive, $1.9 billion garbage and recycling operation. In that key role, Tisch made headlines in 2022 when, announcing a war on rodents, she said: "Rats don't run this city. We do."

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Her appointment was a final piece in an effort pushed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to clean house and stabilize the city after Adams' Sept. 26 indictment on federal bribery charges and a spate of search warrants targeting his inner circle, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Adams has pleaded not guilty and goes on trial in April.

In addition to Caban, the former police commissioner, Adams' City Hall has seen the departure of two deputy mayors, the schools chancellor, two close advisors and numerous other administration and police officials, all of whom were hit with federal subpoenas in at least three corruption investigations.

Prior to her tenure leading what's billed as the biggest sanitation department in the world, Tisch served as deputy police commissioner for information technology and as the citywide commissioner for information technology. Her father is billionaire James Tisch, CEO of the Loews Corp. and a former chairman of CBS.

More: New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleads not guilty in federal court to corruption charges

"I’ve seen firsthand the profound nobility of the policing profession, and I was proud to work shoulder-to-shoulder with both uniform members and civilians to propel the NYPD into the next century of technological advancement,” Tisch said in a statement.

Acting Commissioner Donlon, a Bronx-born former FBI official, had reportedly wanted to stay on at the top of the NYPD. His chief of staff, Tarik Sheppard, was also said to be in line for the job. The two had to be separated during a public argument before the New York Marathon last month.

"Are we going to have encounters where people are going to disagree about something as passionate as they are?" Adams said when asked about the dust-up, a major breach of police discipline. "Yes, we are. And just because you have an argument with your spouse, your child, your business partner, doesn't mean you don't love them, you don't like them."

Tisch spent 12 years as a civilian NYPD employee.

The city's Legal Aid Society said it was “hopeful that the appointment of Jessica Tisch to NYPD Commissioner will bring wholesale change to a City agency that’s in urgent need of reform."

The group, which represents low income criminal defendants, noted Tisch's role as "a driving force behind the NYPD’s increase in the use of surveillance technology, a practice that must be curtailed and subject to more robust oversight."

The appointment got high marks elsewhere.

"Jessie Tisch brings proven management skills and in-depth knowledge of the NYPD to the commissioner role," said Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit representing New York's corporate titans. "At this particular time, having a manager with a reputation for strong leadership is important."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eric Adams appoints Jessica Tisch as new NYPD commissioner