NYC’s new DOC leader Lynelle Maginley-Liddie gets rare show of support from fed monitor as takeover looms
Mayor Eric Adams formally named his new corrections commissioner Friday — leading to rare praise for the city from the federal monitor overseeing the Big Apple’s troubled jail system.
Lynelle Maginley-Liddie’s appointment comes after weeks of speculation on who would run the agency with the impending departure of Louis Molina — and as the prospect looms of the corrections system being put under the control of a federal receiver.
Moments after the announcement, federal monitor Steve Martin welcomed the new commissioner as well as a new general counsel, appointments he said appeared to “reflect an attempt by the City to alter its approach to the Nunez Court Orders.”
“The Monitor and the Monitoring Team have worked with Commissioner Maginley-Liddie for many years and have developed a good working relationship with her during this time,” the status report reads.
Martin, though, added a stern warning for the new leader during this “pivotal time,” the city’s and DOC’s “actions, or lack thereof, will demonstrate whether Defendants are genuinely committed to reform.”
The city’s jails have been plagued by dangerous conditions and violence for years, leading to a court-ordered federal oversight, which also sought to address high levels of use of force by guards.
Maginley-Liddie, a lawyer with eight years on the job who last served as first deputy commissioner, is stepping into the driver’s seat of an embattled correction agency with a fed-up federal oversight team and a real chance of losing control of the infamous Rikers Island and other city jails.
During her predecessor’s nearly two years at the helm, Martin’s reports became increasingly alarming over what he described as a “disturbing level of regression” in city jails with the latest update telling the court the relationship between DOC and the monitor had deteriorated.
“[The DOC’s] persistent interference, obstruction, and lack of transparency have eroded the Monitoring Team’s confidence that the City and Department fully appreciate the extent of the problems facing the agency and that they are in fact capable of advancing the reform,” the scathing late November report reads.
Adams, who has staunchly spoken out against a receivership, said Friday he thinks the new appointment will be a step to repair the relationship with the monitor and fend off a takeover.
“I think that the relationship with human beings are never eroded,” Adams said.
“We’re saying to everybody that is involved, we want to challenge, give us an opportunity to do so,” he said, adding, “If need be to hit reset to reset the focus and agenda and communication, we’re willing to do that.”
City Hall also issued an olive brand to the monitor, allowing them to consult on the hiring of Maginley-Liddie.
That concession drew the ire of one high-ranking correction source, who told The Post they were wary of the close relationship between the monitor and the new commissioner.
“Only two things can happen or she gives away the f–king farm or in two or three months she’s going to be in the same boat as Molina,” the source said. Some inside DOC have taken issue with monitor changes, believing the reforms go too far and create a dangerous environment for officers.
City Hall did not immediately respond to questions about Molina’s new job.
