Former Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon pushed out of NYC City Hall post

Graham Rayman, Rocco Parascandola, Chris Sommerfeldt and Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on Jun 16, 2025

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NEW YORK — Former Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon was pushed out of his post as an assistant deputy mayor last month, the Daily News has learned.

Donlon, who served as the NYPD’s top cop for just over two months in 2024, was moved in November into a City Hall role with a steep pay cut in the office of the deputy mayor for public safety after stepping down as interim commissioner.

He worked in that job under Deputy Mayor Chauncey Parker and later under Parker’s successor, Kaz Daughtry. Parker resigned Feb. 17 along with three other deputy mayors concerned about allegations that Mayor Adams agreed to a quid pro quo with the Trump administration to get tough on illegal immigration in exchange for getting his federal corruption charges dropped.

Sources familiar with the sequence said a woman in human resources for the mayor’s office abruptly called Donlon on April 24 and told him he was out as of May 9.

Donlon, the sources said, asked if he could have that in writing. The unnamed official said he didn’t need it.

City records show that though Donlon was working in a City Hall post, he was actually “on loan” from the NYPD as an “intelligence research manager,” pulling a $240,000 salary. That marked a decrease from the $277,605 salary he collected as interim police commissioner, records confirm.

A rep for Donlon declined to comment.

Asked about Donlon’s termination, Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said Monday, “While we don’t comment on personnel matters, we are grateful to Tom Donlon’s service to New Yorkers.”

The NYPD referred a request for comment to the mayor’s office.

Adams appointed Donlon, a career FBI counterterror expert who investigated the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as interim police commissioner on Sept. 13 after his predecessor, Edward Caban, resigned suddenly amid a federal probe scrutinizing potential corruption in the NYPD.

Donlon’s first public appearance as interim commissioner came Sept. 15 when he gave brief remarks after a police officer was shot and wounded in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

“It’s unfortunate that I’m here, meeting many of you under these circumstances, but in my 30 years of law enforcement, I’ve learned that policing is a very, very difficult job,” Donlon told reporters at the time.

Donlon’s home was raided later that month by FBI agents looking for old documents Donlon may have retained after leaving the FBI.

In October, Donlon touted that month’s crime stats, crediting the rank and file for their “laserlike focus” on driving down crime.

On Nov. 3, Donlon got into a public shouting match with then-NYPD chief of staff Tarik Sheppard at the New York City Marathon. The duo had to be separated by then-Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey who has since resigned over a sex-for-overtime scandal, The News reported.

At the time, the reason for the argument was said to relate to a photo op with cops who were running the race, but other sources hinted at a deeper conflict between the men that may have included a power struggle at the top of the NYPD.

“The matter was promptly discussed and resolved,” NYPD Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves said at the time. “The leaders of the NYPD are passionate about their work, and it is that commitment and drive that helps us keep New Yorkers safe every day.”

Adams likened the spat to family members fighting. “Just because you have an argument with your spouse, your child, your business partner, doesn’t mean you don’t love them,” he said at the time.

On Nov. 20, Adams named Jessica Tisch police commissioner and Donlon was moved to the City Hall role, which was described by the mayor as acting as a liaison with federal and state authorities. Adams thanked Donlon upon his exit as commissioner for “his willingness to quickly come onboard and dedicate day and night to this city.”

At City Hall, Donlon moved into a slot previously held by Tim Pearson, a former NYPD inspector and friend to the mayor who also resigned last year in the wake of a corruption scandal and a series of lawsuits accusing him of retaliating against cops who accused him of sexually harassing a subordinate.

Donlon’s actual duties at City Hill largely involved grant writing, sources said. He also didn’t receive any training for the new post, the sources said.

His ouster came about seven weeks after Daughtry, a former detective and deputy NYPD commissioner of operations favored by Adams, was appointed to succeed Parker on March 7.

The sources said Donlon was told by a City Hall official his firing was “not for cause,” meaning he didn’t do anything wrong to trigger it. He was told the position was being eliminated, the sources said.

Sheppard, meanwhile, filed for retirement on April 11.

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