The Rats Are Absolutely Going to Hate the New Sanitation Commissioner

“The rats are absolutely going to hate this announcement. But the rats don’t run this city, we do.”

When Jessica Tisch, New York City’s recently installed sanitation commissioner, uttered those two short sentences during a news conference in mid-October, while announcing new rules for putting garbage bags out on the sidewalk, she had no idea she was about to become a social media sensation.

But soon, there were thousands of videos posted on TikTok, using her deadpan audio as a winking metaphor for victory over whoever might oppose you: a teenage girl in a hot pink prom dress whose date was reluctant to also wear pink; a dad who donned a fleece hoodie instead of turning up the heat in the house; the Detroit Lions after beating the Chicago Bears.

That Ms. Tisch’s declaration became a viral meme (and subsequently a T-shirt) suggests that this otherwise no-nonsense candidate for garbage chief might actually have been an inspired choice. But can she accomplish what few have ever been able to do?

Can she clean up New York City?

Ms. Tisch, 41, who has worked throughout city government, has a reputation for being a tough boss and for disrupting the status quo. She is a lifelong New Yorker with a famous last name and three Harvard diplomas, including an M.B.A. and a law degree. Her grandfather and his brother founded the Loews Corporation and, thanks to philanthropic donations, their names grace many buildings in New York, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York University and the Children’s Zoo in Central Park.

She has taken this job at a particularly challenging moment. In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio to put the city on a “wartime budget,” slashing various city services, including sanitation. Trash pickup was reduced, street cleaning was cut in half and the rats may not have been running the city but they seemed to have set up a shadow government that commandeered the streets after dark. The new outdoor dining sheds brought even more opportunities for filth.