Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Stanley Richards, a formerly incarcerated man, as commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction — the agency that oversees the city’s jail system, including Rikers Island. This marks the first time a former convict will head the city’s corrections agency.
The New York Post continues:
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 a “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.
Richards, 64, told reporters he believes it is time for the city’s jail system to “turn the page” and enter a new era.
Richards is set to take office Feb. 16, 2026, as the Big Apple pushes ahead with major corrections reforms — with incarceration, rehabilitation, and jail conditions all under the spotlight.
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We’re just getting started in this Circus ! There are a lot more acts to come ! New York City voters put up the tent and the Muslim Communist is providing the entertainment !!!
Oh dear, the little muslim guy thinks this city of NYC is a muslim sanctuary! Rules for thee but NONE for me! And in addition a prior criminal running the cities department of corrections. A fox quarding the hen house of NYC? What can possibly go wrong?
Popcorn and drinks to watch this show and disaster the folks of NYC voted for.