Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday named Stanley Richards as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction, making him the first formerly incarcerated person to lead the agency.
Richards was convicted of robbery in the late 1980s and served roughly two and a half years on Rikers Island before spending an additional four and a half years in state prison. He was released in 1991.
Since then, Richards built a career in criminal justice reform, most recently serving as executive vice president of The Fortune Society, a nonprofit that provides assistance to formerly incarcerated individuals. He previously served as first deputy commissioner of the DOC.
His appointment comes as the city’s jail system faces unprecedented federal intervention. Just days ago, a federal judge appointed Nicholas Deml, a former CIA agent and corrections official in Vermont, to serve as a remediation manager with sweeping authority over day-to-day operations at Rikers. Deml will have the power to hire or fire anyone working for the agency except the commissioner.
The federal oversight follows years of violence, staff shortages, and repeated court findings that city leadership failed to fix conditions inside the jails.
Richards’ first day will be February 16, the mayor’s office confirmed. His priorities will include improving safety, closing Rikers Island, and ensuring proper care for incarcerated people while supporting DOC staff.
The commissioner assumes control a little more than a year and a half before the city reaches its legally mandated deadline to close Rikers. The city is years behind its timeline to shutter the jail complex and open four borough-based jails to replace it.
For Richards, the appointment represents a full-circle journey from inmate to commissioner at the same troubled facility.
The mayor’s office announced the appointment alongside other key positions, including commissioners for health and other city agencies.
