NYPD Commissioner Sewell still lives on LI with no immediate plans to move

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell still lives on Long Island, the Daily News has learned, with no immediate plans to move to the city, and that’s OK with Mayor Adams.

Barring a waiver, the police commissioner normally has about 90 days to move into the five boroughs, as prior top cops Dermot Shea and James O’Neill did.

But because of a COVID-19 executive order from March 2020 signed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, the residency requirement for the law enforcement leader has been put on pause.

Adams, who has advocated shedding pandemic restrictions, has yet to put the residency mandate back in play.

“She’s in full compliance,” the mayor said. “The rules are clear.”

During his campaign for mayor, Adams said that he supported a provision forcing cops to live within the city limits.

He declined to say if he would reinstate the rule for Sewell.

“She is 100 % in compliance, and I don’t know why people are acting like she’s not,” Adams said.

Sewell, her supporters said, would have already moved if she absolutely had to and has instead focused on taking the helm of the nation’s largest police force after Adams plucked her from her prior job, as chief of detectives for the Nassau County Police Department.

She still lives in Valley Stream.

“She’s less than two minutes from the Queens border,” a source close to her who did not want to be identified said. “It’s not like she’s way out in Suffolk County.”

The NYPD wouldn’t make Sewell available for an interview, but said in a statement that what’s most important is how she does her job.

“The police commissioner’s residence is in compliance with all city laws and she will continue to comply with city law,” the department said. “The police commissioner remains dedicated to both the people who live and work in New York City and to all members of the New York City Police Department. She has eagerly worked countless, long hours in the city she serves, alongside the officers she represents and inside of the communities she has sworn to protect.

“The safety of each and every community will always be her top priority.”

But from the moment she walked into her 14th floor office at One Police Plaza and sat at her desk — the same one used by Teddy Roosevelt — a number of police officials wondered how long Sewell would last working for a mayor who is an ex-cop and is a regular presence at NYPD press conferences. Others say Sewell doesn’t crave the spotlight and just wants to work.

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“I don’t think she’s going anywhere,” said a NYPD supervisor. “But if you’re not living here it sends out the wrong message, in my opinion. It’s not like she’d have trouble finding a place in the city. She’s the police commissioner.”

When the Daily News first inquired about Sewell’s residence earlier this summer, an NYPD official, speaking on the condition of anonymity said she has been looking for a new home in the city.

A former NYPD official noted that if Sewell is having trouble finding a place to live — or hasn’t had the time to do so — any number of high-powered real estate concerns in the city would likely be willing to line up a number of apartments for her to view.

Meanwhile, First Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban, who by his title is also required to live in the city, has rented an apartment in Manhattan.

John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, a government watchdog group, said delaying a move to the city could undermine her credibility with police executives who work most closely with her.

He noted that in January Adams not only called the suggestion that cops should be required to live in the city “a smart idea” — but also said Sewell was working on a program to encourage young officers to move back to or stay in the city.

“The big issue here is leaders are appointed to lead — and you can’t lead if you are following rules different from everyone else,” Kaehny said. “It seems impossible that someone that doesn’t live in the five boroughs can be in charge of an effort to encourage others to live in the five boroughs.’’