Mamdani looking at former SCPD chief Harrison

Daily Point

Tisch may remain at NYPD but Mamdani has alternatives

As Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition gets underway, the name of former Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison is back on the lips of many City Hall insiders. One well-placed official told The Point on Thursday that Harrison will be tapped as either deputy mayor for public safety or NYPD commissioner.

“At this point it’s one or the other,” the source said.

Current Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch was appointed by Adams in the administration’s last stages to improve the operation. Crediting this, Mamdani said on Wednesday that he’d decided to “retain” Tisch, but it was not immediately clear if she wanted to stay. Another source said that Tisch may first want to see the direction of the new administration and then leave after a month or so “to protect her brand.”

For now, that all sounds like the kind of polite public dance that takes place at the end of an administration when stability is paramount through a transition. But for at least 30 years, new mayors have always ended up bringing in their own commissioners and deputies at 1 Police Plaza rather than holding over the incumbent team.

Harrison, 56, ran the Suffolk department in 2022 and 2023, departing at the end of the administration of Democratic County Executive Steve Bellone who picked him for the post. He formed the task force that included federal, state, district attorney and sheriff’s personnel that worked on the Gilgo Beach serial killings and led to the arrest of suspect Rex Heuermann.

If he assumes the deputy mayor’s post, Harrison, a Queens native, would succeed Kaz Daughtry, a longtime friend of departing Mayor Eric Adams, whose appointments in the department where he once retired with the rank of captain spawned scandals during his term. Previous Police Commissioner Edward Caban was forced to resign amid multiple investigations, so any Adams connections would be a downside for a Daughtry successor.

Harrison retired at the end of 2021 as the NYPD’s chief of department, the highest uniformed position. Politically, that’s now an advantage because it means he avoided serving in the ethically tainted upper echelons of the Adams administration.

Harrison has an edge with Mamdani, having already advised his campaign on security matters. In September, without explicitly endorsing the democratic socialist candidate, Harrison expressed approval for parts of his planned approach.

Mamdani — who once was part of the politically toxic “Defund the Police” chorus — has proposed a Department of Community Safety that would send mental health professionals to respond to calls involving emotionally disturbed but nonviolent people and include gun violence prevention programs.

"Police have a critical role to play," the Mamdani campaign said on its website. "But right now, we’re relying on them to deal with the failures of our social safety net — which prevents them from doing their actual jobs."

As Harrison was leaving the Suffolk job two years ago, Legis. Rob Trotta, a relentless critic of police operations, loudly complained about Harrison’s accounting for his off time. Harrison switched some vacation days to sick days for additional time off, which he said is a common practice in the SCPD, but changed them back after consulting with the county attorney.

"I put them back, and there is nothing wrong here," Harrison said at the time. “I have dedicated my career to law enforcement, not politics, and these wild and baseless allegations by a politician will not undermine or diminish the crucial work we have completed over the last two years.”

Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said at the time he was reviewing the matter, but this led to no public action.

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

Political Point

Raiding third-party nomination may have tilted Huntington supervisor race

Was it a “back-alley deal” and “skullduggery” that cost Cooper Macco the Huntington Town supervisor’s job or just good, old-fashioned politics?

Depends who you ask.

Macco, who ran on the Democratic Party line, lost to incumbent Republican Edmund J. Smyth by 602 votes in a surprisingly close race. But the Working Families Party candidate, Maria Delgado, got 1,195 votes, more than enough to tip the scales in Macco’s favor. Problem is, Delgado wasn’t endorsed by the state WFP, Macco was, and insiders say it appears to be an inside deal by town Republicans to siphon votes away from Democrats, who traditionally rely on WFP support.

There are about 650 Huntington Town residents registered on the WFP line, according to the state Board of Elections. Delgado beat Macco 109-26 in the June primary to win the WFP line despite Macco having the endorsement of the state WFP, which also sent texts telling WFP people not to vote for Delgado.

One political insider told The Point Huntington Town Republicans “raided” the Working Families Party line in retaliation for Democrats attempting to co-opt the Conservative Party line in the June primaries. The Dems’ plan backfired. Republicans only got involved after they learned of the Democrats’ attempt to swipe the Conservative Party line, the source said.

“If Democrats hadn’t gone down this road, Republicans would have never gone down this road,” the source said. When asked if the WFP votes would have heavily favored Macco, the source said, “I believe so. I think that’s a safe assumption.”

Phil Dalton, a Hofstra professor and Huntington resident, said he left the Democratic Party to create a Working Families Party “club” because of the insider dealings. He said his club, which is an attempt to reclaim the WFP, is endorsed by the state party but isn’t recognized as the official WFP of Huntington Town.

“I don’t know about the horse trading that goes on,” Dalton told The Point about the primary race intrigue. In an online op-ed, Dalton wrote that Delgado “refused to talk to me.”

Macco said Delgado didn’t screen with the state WFP for an endorsement, adding, “As to my opponent, Ms. Delgado, I don’t know her.”

The source told The Point Delgado is an unknown. “Even [News 12 anchor] Rich Barrabi said on camera, ‘We don’t really know who these people are,’ ” according to the source, later adding, “This is real skullduggery.”

Delgado is listed in public records as an 83-year-old Huntington Station resident and registered to vote on the Working Families Party line. She did not return a call from The Point to a cellphone listed in her name. A landline phone was not working.

But maybe her complicity — or not — will be soon sussed out. Social media is all over it. 

Huntington Town GOP officials weren't immediately available Thursday afternoon.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Healthcare trick

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Final Point

To the ramparts, quoting Whitman!

Speaking after California's decisive passage of Democrats' gerrymandering there to counter Texas Republicans' gerrymandering in the battle for the House, Gov. Gavin Newsom dropped a surprising Long Island reference on election night.

It involved a poetic favorite son, a bearded genius who lives on in everyone's high school textbooks as well as shops in Huntington Station. Newsom only used the writer’s last name.

"Our Founding Fathers did not live and die to see the kind of vandalism to this republic and our democracy that Donald Trump is trying to perpetuate," Newsom said. "And so my call tonight, in the spirit of Whitman, who talked about 'the powerful play goes on.' We all must contribute a verse."

Newsom was inspired by Walt Whitman's "O Me! O Life!" — which is from, you guessed it, "Leaves of Grass."

"And so we need — we need the state of Virginia. We need the state of Maryland," Newsom continued, before mentioning New York among others. He said more states are needed to “meet this moment head-on as well, to recognize what we're up against in 2026."

Everyone has their part to play — whether in the 19th century or the 21st.

— Edward B. Colby edward.colby@newsday.com

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