NYC DOC Commissioner Stanley Richards
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Stanley Richards on Saturday to lead the NYC Department of Correction (DOC). He is the first formally incarcerated person to head the department.
“I appointed Stanley Richards as Commissioner of Correction,” the mayor said. “Decades after he served time in our city’s jails, Commissioner Richards will now be the first formerly incarcerated person to lead them.”
The appointment comes on the heels of a federal judge’s decision to appoint former CIA officer Nicholas Deml to take the mayor’s place managing Rikers Island, the city’s troubled jail complex.
Richards was previously a First Deputy Commissioner for the DOC. As part of his new role, he will work with Deml to focus on “improving safety, closing Rikers and ensuring DOC delivers on its core responsibility to care for people in custody and support the staff who serve them,” the mayor’s office explained.
According to a New York Times article, Deml will also be given powers traditionally held by the commissioner.
Richards served time in prison for robbery in the late 1980s before serving as executive vice president of the Fortune Society, an organization that supports incarcerated or formerly incarcerated individuals. He first joined the Fortune Society in 1991 as a re-entry counselor before climbing up the non-profit’s ranks.
The new appointee was recognized by the Obama Administration in 2014 as a Champion for Change, a White House program that honored individuals working to improve their communities.
Richards said in a statement he was honored and grateful to the mayor for appointing him into his new position.
“This role represents the culmination of my lifelong commitment to criminal justice reform, drawing directly from my own experience of incarceration on Rikers, which fueled my decades of work at The Fortune Society and with the Department of Correction, helping thousands rebuild their lives through reentry programs, leadership roles, and advocacy,” he said.
Benny Boscio, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association (COBA), which represents around 15,000 active and retired correction officers, said the union is “ready, willing and able” to meet and work with anyone who respects and supports the rights of staff.
“The jails cannot and will not operate as safely as possible if the concerns of our members are brushed aside,” Boscio said in a statement. “It is our hope that Mr. Richards understands that dynamic as he takes on this new role and demonstrates a commitment to putting safety and security before any political ideology.”
The Freedom Agenda’s Campaign to Close Rikers said the new commissioner should prioritize safety for all New Yorkers.
“The DOC Commissioner’s first actions should deploy every tool at his disposal to divert people from Rikers, where people continue to die, and to hasten its closure, by expediting the borough-based jails and permanently transferring empty jails on Rikers, like AMKC, out of DOC’s control,” the organization said in a statement.
Rev. Wendy Calderón-Payne, executive director of Bronx Connect / Urban Youth Alliance Coalition, an organization that promotes alternatives to jail, applauded the Richards appointment. She said Richards has been a “remarkable champion for reform” in how “the city treats those in the correction system.”
“DOC will benefit tremendously from Commissioner Richards’ integrity, knowledge, and wisdom,” she said. “BronxConnect and all of the Urban Youth Alliance look forward to continuing to work with Commissioner Richards as we envision a city where redemption and hope are centered in our corrections system.”
Other new appointments by Mamdani
Meanwhile on Saturday, the mayor named appointments to lead four other city agencies:
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner – Alister Martin, MD
- New York City Department of Veterans’ Services Commissioner – Yesenia Mata
- New York City Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner – Sandra Escamilla-Davies
- New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Commissioner – Vilda Vera Mayuga
“New York City is built on the often unseen work of public servants who show up every day to care for our neighbors, support our young people, and make government work for the people who rely on it most. Today, we are entrusting five dedicated leaders with the responsibility to carry that work forward,” the Mayor said. “I hope New Yorkers see the impact of their leadership in young people growing into happy and healthy adults, in justice that is administered fairly across our city, and in a government that listens, responds, and treats every person with dignity.”
More information about the new appointments is available at nyc.gov.
