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

NEW YORK — Embattled NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon is expected to vacate his post as early as Friday after his background check hit a snag — and the city’s current Sanitation Department boss, Jessica Tisch, is seen as the 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.

Due to the recent raid at Donlon’s home, the city Department of Investigation has delayed approving the background check he had to undergo as part of his appointment as interim NYPD Commissioner, two sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Donlon is now expected to step down from his post 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 did not immediately return requests for comment, and neither did the DOI.

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.

The mayor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

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.

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.

—Daily News staff writer Thomas Tracy contributed to this story.