Interim NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon expected to step down, Jessica Tisch in line for job: sources

Embattled NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon is expected to vacate his post potentially as early as Friday after his background check hit a snag — and the city’s current Sanitation Department boss, Jessica Tisch, is seen as a top contender to replace him, the Daily News has learned.

Donlon was appointed by Mayor Adams to serve as the city’s top cop in an interim capacity after ex-Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned last month in the wake of having his electronics seized by federal investigators as part of a corruption probe scrutinizing the NYPD’s nightlife enforcement efforts.

But just over a week after taking over the reins from Caban, Donlon, an ex-FBI special agent, was himself visited at his home by feds who seized materials from him that he said “came into my possession 20 years ago and are unrelated to my work” with the NYPD.

After the federal raid at Donlon’s home, the Department of Investigation background check process he had to complete for his interim NYPD commissioner appointment was bogged down, two sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Now, Donlon is expected to step down from his post potentially as early as Friday, sources told The News. One of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Donlon was already “packing up” his office at 1 Police Plaza on Thursday afternoon.

The NYPD’s press office didn’t return requests for comment.

A Department of Investigation spokeswoman confirmed it hadn’t as of Thursday afternoon received Donlon’s completed background check questionnaire. Among other questions, the questionnaire requires candidates to provide information about any federal, state or local investigations they have reason to believe they’re facing and disclose details about any subpoenas they have ever received.

“Therefore, DOI has not begun its background investigation,” said the spokeswoman, Diane Struzzi.

It wasn’t immediately clear who will succeed Donlon, but sources familiar with the matter said Tisch, who has served as Adams’ Sanitation Department commissioner since April 2022, is emerging as the favorite for the post.

Under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, Tisch served as the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for information technology. She could not be immediately reached for comment.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, whose Democratic majority has had a highly contentious relationship with the mayor for months, gave Tisch a ringing endorsement when asked if she’d like to see her as police commissioner.

“I’m pretty sure I can speak for my colleagues, I think Commissioner Tisch has done an outstanding job as sanitation head of that agency,” she told reporters at City Hall on Thursday. “She has been flawless and totally committed to us and our constituents.”

Sources said another top contender to replace Donlon is Ben Tucker, a former first deputy NYPD commissioner.

The mayor’s office wouldn’t comment on the timing of Donlon’s potential departure or confirm who his successor might be.

“The police commissioner is standing right next to us right now doing his job,” Adams said, with Donlon at his side, at a press conference Thursday evening in the Times Square subway station about homeless outreach. “We cannot thank him enough for coming in and moving to stabilize, and any time there’s personnel changes, we’ll announce it and let you know.”

The NYPD shakeup comes as the Adams administration remains in a state of chaos. The mayor is under federal indictment on charges alleging he solicited bribes from Turkish government officials and others in exchange for doing political favors; he has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

More than a dozen high-profile officials in the mayor’s administration, meantime, have resigned in the past month after being ensnared in separate corruption investigations besieging City Hall. The probe that prompted the seizure of ex-Commissioner Caban’s cellphones has been scrutinizing whether his twin brother, former NYPD cop James Caban , squeezed nightlife venues in the city for cash in exchange for advocating for Police Department favors.

With Thomas Tracy and Evan Simko-Bednarski