Leadership of the notoriously problem-plagued Rikers Island jail complex has officially fallen into federal hands with the anticipated appointment of an independent administrator, officials said on Tuesday.
Nicholas Deml, a former commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections from November 2021 until August 2025, will begin oversight of the jail complex, relieving New York City and Mayor Mamdani of local control.
“Today’s appointment of Nicholas Deml as remediation manager for the city’s jail system is a historic step toward ending the egregious constitutional violations that incarcerated New Yorkers continue to endure each day in New York City jails,” Mary Lynne Werlwas, director of the Prisoners’ Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society, and Debbie Greenberger, partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, said in a joint statement.
“This decision reflects the court’s recognition that incremental measures and past promises have failed to deliver the systemic change necessary to protect basic rights and human dignity.”
Mamdani, who took office on Jan. 1, extended Rikers’ emergency status during his first full week in office, allowing the jail complex to be exempt from various local laws, though his order also directed the city to work with the Rikers manager to come up with a plan to get into compliance.
“The previous administration’s refusal to meet their legal obligations on Rikers has left us with troubling conditions that will take time to resolve,” Mamdani said earlier this month.
A representative for Mamdani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mamdani, who is still assembling his City Hall team, has put off appointing a new commissioner for the Department of Correction. In the meantime, Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, the handpicked commissioner of former Mayor Eric Adams, currently continues to lead the department.
The new mayor will have to work closely with Deml to improve conditions at the infamous jail complex, and to manage an all-but impossible deadline of closing the facility by next year.
Demi’s background includes several positions with the Central Intelligence Agency, and work with the U.S. Senate as a national security and foreign policy aide.
Benny Boscio, the president of the Correction Officers Benevolent union, in a statement on X, said of Deml’s appointment, “Correction Officers have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years and it is our hope, that as a former Correction manager, the new Remediation Manager understands the critical role our workforce plays in maintaining safety and security for everyone in our correction facilities and the dangers we face every day. I look forward to working with Mr. Deml and ensuring the voices of my members are heard.”
