Mayor Zohran Mamdani is turning to an ex-con to run NYC’s embattled jail system.
The socialist pol announced five key appointments to his administration during a Bronx press conference Saturday, most notably Stanley Richards, who will become the first formerly incarcerated person to lead the city’s Department of Correction as commissioner.
Richards, who reportedly served jail time in the late 1980s for robbery, previously worked as president of the nonprofit Fortune Society that provides housing and other services for ex-cons. He’s also the DOC’s former deputy commissioner of programs and operations.
Mamdani announced Richards’ appointment less than a week after a federal judge tapped Nicholas Deml, the ex-head honcho of Vermont’s prison system, as an “remediation manager” who’ll run Rikers Island’s scandal-scarred jail complex independent of City Hall.
Mamdani said Richards’ appointment to the $243,171-a-year post is “not merely symbolic” but what he believes is best for city correction officers and detainees.
“I will turn to Stanley as we work to build a city where justice is at the heart of our corrections system, where every Department of Correction employee and incarcerated New Yorker is safe, and where every New Yorker re-enters society seamlessly from corrections,” he said.
“Under Mayor Mamdani’s leadership, we will chart a path of hope, healing and transformation,” he boasted.
“His administration made clear that the future of Rikers is not endless confinement, scapegoating or demonizing”
Benny Boscio, president of the Correction of Officers Benevolent Association, said his members have been longed plagued by “false narratives” of being “obstacles of reform” and are willing to work with Stanley – and other city leaders – provided they respect correction officers rights and “understand that their safety and security matters.”
“The jails cannot and will not operate as safely as possible if the concerns of our members are brushed aside,” he said. “It is our hope that Mr. Richards understands that dynamic as he takes on this new role and demonstrates a commitment to putting safety in security before any political ideology”
Mamdani also announced four other top administration appointments Saturday.
Dr. Alister Martin, an emergency surgeon and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, was named commissioner of the city’s Health Department.
Sandra Escamilla-Davies was tapped to head the Department of Youth and Community, while Yesenia Mata will serve as commissioner of the Department of Veterans’ Services, and Vilda Vera Mayuga will head the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
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