After years of dysfunction, Rikers faces federal control and new leadership

BY CARTER MYERS-BROWN

Posted 2/6/26

In the latest major shakeup for New York City’s jail system, two new stewards of Rikers Island appointed just days apart are poised to impose stronger oversight on the troubled jail complex after years of dysfunction and mounting questions about management.

Last week, a federal judge overseeing the city’s jails appointed Nicholas Deml, a former CIA officer, as remediation manager for Rikers Island, effectively removing the city’s mayor as the primary decision-maker for the jail complex.

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