By Nicholas Williams
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his appointment of five new city agency commissioners Saturday afternoon — including the first-ever formerly incarcerated person to serve as head of the Department of Correction.
Mamdani entrusted Stanley Richards, an ex- Rikers Island inmate and former executive vice president at The Fortune Society, with overseeing New York City’s jails, aiming for a safer jail system and reform.
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“That achievement is not merely symbolic,” Mamdani said of Richards’ historic appointment. “It is a testament to the thought and leadership he will bring to every member of Correction staff and incarcerated New Yorkers.”
Richards served 4 1/2 years in prison for robbery in the late 1980s. Since then, in his role at The Fortune Society, he has worked to help prepare people for their release from prison and reentry into society.
“My experience and journey is a testament,” Richards said, “that when we provide support, when we center our collective work to hope instead of fear, when we see the best in all of us instead of judging people in the worst thing we ever done, when we see our commonality (more) than our difference, we can achieve the unimaginable.”
Of the mayor, he said, “His administration made clear that the future of Rikers (Island jail) is not endless confinement, scapegoating or demonizing. It is safety, transparency and rehabilitation — my vision aligns fully with that mission. Safer jails today — borough-based facilities that prioritize dignity, opportunity and humanity.”
In a statement, Benny Boscio, the president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association union, said of Richard’s appointment, “Despite the many false narratives that have portrayed COBA as an ‘obstacle to reform,’ we have been ready, willing and able to meet and work with anyone, as long as they respect the rights of our Correction Officers and understand that their safety and security matter. … 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.”
Mamdani also named Dr. Alister Martin as commissioner of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Martin is an emergency physician and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, having previously served as an adviser in the Office of the Vice President under Kamala Harris and a White House Fellow in the White House Office of Public Engagement.
“A city is only as vibrant as it is healthy, and in Dr. Martin, an emergency room physician with extensive experience on the front lines of public health, as well as at the highest levels of government, New Yorkers will be well looked after,” Mamdani said.
Sandra Escamilla-Davies will serve as the new commissioner of the Department of Youth and Community Development after serving as the executive vice president of Children’s Aid.
“As commissioner of DYCD, she will do more to build after-school programs and expanding the summer youth employment program,” Mamdani said. “She will work every day to ensure that every child in this city can imagine a future of health, joy and a possibility in a place that they call home.”
Yesenia Mata, a former military police sergeant in the U.S. Army and executive director for La Colmena NYC, will serve as the new commissioner of the Department of Veterans’ Services.
“Yesenia will continue that work fighting for the 135,000 veterans who call this city home and ensuring they are able to access the housing, the health care, the supportive services that they sacrificed so much for,” Mamdani said.
Former commissioner of the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Vilda Vera Mayuga will serve as the new head of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings , or OATH.
“In addition to having served in state government in a number of roles where she advanced civil rights and advocated for workers, as OATH commissioner she will oversee our city’s independent administrative law court and make justice the expectation for every New Yorker,” Mamdani said of Mayuga.
Does having served time in jail give a corrections commissioner valuable insight — or create blind spots when it comes to officer safety and operations? Why or why not?
Corrections1 readers respond:
- I don’t judge or criticize anyone, especially being an ex-inmate, but to hire a convicted felon to run the jails gives a whole new meaning the word crazy. The COs/inmates definitely do not want to take orders from this individual, which is going to create a whole lot of extra tension, so what are we solving here?
- As an ex-felon, he has firsthand knowledge of the heinous treatment inmates — both guilty and innocent — have suffered at the hands of other inmates and even those entrusted to protect them. I’m sure Stanley can attest to this reality, and hopefully he can help bring much-needed change to these facilities.
- This is a slap in the face anybody working corrections in New York City. I shudder at the thought of the hug a thug movement this will bring. 😬
- Bad idea. Any incarcerated individual now in a position of authority will have an implicit bias toward other perpetrators. He does not care about the violence within or the officer. Does he care about his victims? Does he advocate for them? Care equally about everyone and as someone who has worked corrections, we’re trending down a dangerous path.
- Valuable insight!!! Who knows the system better than him? When you have paid dearly for a mistake you made, you often are grateful to have a chance to redeem. 👍
- Absolutely Not....An individual who does not know policy, procedures, regulations, state and federal laws, and also jail rules and regs, union rights, overtime, staffing issues, training, HR rules, federal law working rights and on and on.....Trust me, I get the idea, but this appointment is like asking a Mason to
- It seems like the people don’t know what or who to hire they just hire anybody. Let me put my name in the hat maybe I’ll get picked. Wrong move, there is no way the inmates will listen to an ex-convict.
- Corrections is a rewarding career but needs to be upgraded; a high school education is not enough nowadays with our present technological advancements. The minimum criteria should be an associate’s degree to become a corrections officer. With that, negotiations for better pay and changes in corrections can be a justification for better bargaining by unions. Did 25 and got out because there was no room for personal advancement. All you’re taught in the academy is care, custody and control; no psychology 101. They don’t teach anything about rehabilitation because that’s not your job, they say. Corrections officers should be, and are actually counselors. With a good education( associate degree or beyond ) I think prisons can become safer. My thoughts. Solitary confinement ensures safety for both officers/staff and inmates. Might as well get rid of classification centers if you’re going to end solitary confinement.
- This is a publicity move. Idk what this person’s background is, he may be a very capable person, but I think his time inside will probably make him biased. People forget that these guys are inmates for a reason, and jail is a punishment and a way of getting people out of our society. They should be treated with respect, but they don’t need an advocate. What they need is a way to change their lives and while he may be better at that than other people, he should be more of a consultant than the guy running the whole department. He is biased and probably feels some sort of solidarity with the inmates, like the way a soldier does after they’ve gotten discharged, except those are soldiers, these are criminals. Integrating people into society is important but they need a skill and a legal way to make money so there could be a chance for them to not end up in jail again and he could help with that, but he shouldn’t run the department.
- I hope I’m wrong, but the inmates are not going to listen to him. I’m an ex-convict, and I hate to say it, but I’m not going to listen to someone who was in my shoes.
- This is no different than the ex-inmate the president appointed to run the Bureau of Prisons. That said, I have no problem with them working as consultants or something, but IDK about them holding the highest position.
- No ex-inmate should serve in corrections. Correction officers carry guns & the commissioner is an ex felon & he cannot carry a gun legally.
- It brings back the humanity to the agency that is needed to help rehabilitate troubled people, giving them a chance to become a healthy, functioning part of our community.
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