DSA members press Mamdani to fire NYPD's Tisch after ICE shooting; City Hall rift reported

Right · 1The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) issued a statement on Saturday 10 October demanding that Mayor Zohran Mamdani fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, after a man was shot by federal officers during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation the previous Thursday. 1 Right · 1The statement also demanded that the mayor abolish the NYPD's Strategic Response Group (SRG) and Community Response Team and use every power available to drive ICE out of the city. 1 Right · 1Other DSA-aligned figures joined: state Senate candidate Illapa Sairitupac posted "Abolish ICE, disband the SRG, fire Tisch," and congressional candidate Andrew Easton, challenging Rep. Ritchie Torres, wrote that the "real responsibility" lay with Mamdani. 1 2

Right · 1The New York Post reported that DSA members also attacked Council Public Safety Chair Oswald Feliz and Speaker Julie Menin, with council member Chi Osse claiming Feliz was blocking a hearing on the CURB Act, which would limit the SRG's role in policing protests. 1 Right · 2Mamdani, through a spokesperson citing his remarks to the New York Times, said Tisch "is the police commissioner, and there are no plans to change that," and that the administration would review the shooting, the NYPD's response and the ensuing protest, and ICE's use of private parking lots. 1 3 Right · 1The most prominent critic was Darializa Avila Chevalier, a House candidate Mamdani endorsed who beat Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the June primary for New York's 13th district; in a social media post she said Tisch and the NYPD had "violated the spirit, if not the letter" of sanctuary city policies and that Tisch must step down. 2

Right · 2The Post added that the NYPD did not assist ICE in the arrest and the SRG did not respond to the protest; it described the man shot as a suspected gang member who fled arrest in a car, and Fox News identified him as Oscar Belgal, 28, a Dominican Republic national. 2 3 Right · 1Chevalier told Twitch streamer Hasan Piker she was angry that Tisch highlighted Belgal's criminal history at a news conference; the NYPD said Tisch gave "a factual update" and that criminal history is routinely included in incident updates. 3 Right · 2On 14–15 October the Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that City Hall staff were angry at Chevalier, calling her calls a "direct undermining of Mamdani" and a "loose cannon"; Fox News repeated this, citing the Post, and said it had asked Chevalier's campaign and City Hall for comment. 2 3

Right · 1The Post also reported, from sources, that the NYC DSA chapter took a softer line than its formal demand, saying Tisch should be fired if she cannot confront ICE, that Mamdani's adviser Morris Katz had talked him into the Chevalier endorsement, and that Brad Lander and Claire Valdez, two other Mamdani-endorsed House candidates, made no similar calls. 2 Right · 1Speaking on WNYC on Thursday 15 October, Chevalier dismissed the Post report, saying she and the mayor had joked about it, that "there is nothing true" in it and that they have a "great relationship"; she repeated that Tisch should step down. 4 Right · 1She said she and Mamdani "see eye-to-eye on most of this," noting his investigation and accountability funding and his stated aim of disbanding the SRG, a campaign promise the Post says he has not yet fulfilled; the Post also cited a source saying the situation was "tricky" because Chevalier is dating City Hall attorney Ramzi Kassem. 4

Right · 1New York State Republican Party spokesperson David Laska told Fox News that Mamdani "helped create this monster" with "anti-American, antisemitic rhetoric." 3