Mayor Mamdani Taps Criminal Justice Reformer Christopher Watler to Lead NYC Jail Oversight Board

NEW YORK – Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani today announced the appointment of Christopher Watler as Chair of the Board of Correction (BOC), the independent body responsible for overseeing the City’s jail system. Watler will lead the Board as the Mamdani administration works to improve conditions for people in custody and the staff who serve them, strengthen accountability across the jail system and finally close Rikers Island.

Interim Chair Felipe Franco will continue serving as a member of the BOC.

Watler has dedicated his career to fighting for a more equitable criminal legal system. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), where he led efforts to connect people returning from incarceration with employment opportunities and reentry services.

The BOC is charged with establishing and ensuring compliance with minimum standards governing conditions of confinement, correctional health and mental health care in all City correctional facilities.

“Christopher Watler has spent his career helping New Yorkers navigate a criminal legal system that too often fails to treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. He understands that community safety and justice go hand in hand, and that means improving conditions for people in custody, supporting the staff who care for them and finally closing Rikers Island. I am confident he will lead the Board of Correction with integrity and an unwavering commitment to that work,” said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani. “I also want to thank Felipe Franco for his leadership during this period of transition. Because of his service, the Board continued its essential work without interruption.”

“I am honored by this appointment and deeply grateful to the Mayor for entrusting me with this position,” said Christopher Watler, incoming Chair of the Board of Correction. “For too long, the people under care in our jails have been denied the dignity, safety and justice that the law promises and our conscience demands. This great city is my home and the people incarcerated in our jails are our neighbors, sons and daughters. Like every New Yorker, they deserve the same access to justice, health care, jobs and housing that we all want. In this position, I look forward to working with my colleagues on the board, the dedicated BOC staff, NYC DOCs leadership, union leaders, advocates, City Council, the Correctional Health Services Team, Remediation Manager, Federal Monitor and other partners to ensure the safety and humane treatment of the people held in the city’s care and the safety of our staff and partners working in the jails.”

“We have set this agency on a course to improve conditions for all who live and work in our jails and the Board of Correction is a vital partner in fulfilling that mission,” said New York City Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards. “Chair Watler brings a wealth of experience that makes him exceptionally well-suited for this role, and we look forward to working with him.”

“The Board of Correction is critical to our shared goal of oversight and reform in New York City's jails.” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “The task ahead is immense, and I look forward to working with incoming Chair Watler to faithfully implement reforms like Local Law 42, expand transparency and accountability, and protect people on both sides of the bars as we reject failing practices and build systems that deliver justice and progress.”

About Christopher Watler

Christopher Watler is a nonprofit leader who has dedicated his career to fighting for a more equitable criminal legal system.

As Executive Vice President of CEO, Watler oversees efforts to build and promote reentry and diversion programs in more than 30 cities across the country. He previously served as Executive Director of CEO’s New York State program, where he led efforts to connect recently incarcerated New Yorkers with job opportunities and supportive services.

Before joining CEO, Watler spent more than two decades at the Center for Justice Innovation, where he developed reentry and diversion programs for young people and adults, as well as eviction prevention programs for housing court litigants.

Watler is a graduate of the State University of New York at Purchase, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science, and John Jay College, where he received a master’s degree in public administration. A native New Yorker and the proud son of Jamaican and Honduran immigrants, Watler lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant with his family.

“Chris’ appointment signals an opportunity to strengthen accountability, protect human dignity, and give communities most affected by incarceration a meaningful role in shaping the future of corrections in New York City. His willingness to listen, build relationships, and work alongside community organizations is essential to earning trust and advancing change,” said Andre Ward, Executive Director Institute for Justice and Opportunity, John Jay College. “At John Jay’s Institute for Justice and Opportunity, we know that safer communities require access to education, meaningful employment, housing, and support. At this moment, the Board of Correction needs leadership that can bring people together while remaining firm about the rights and safety of people held at Rikers. Chris brings the collaborative approach this work demands, and we look forward to working with him to turn those shared priorities into tangible improvements for justice impacted New Yorkers.”

"The appointment of Chris Watler as the Chair of the New York City Board of Corrections is an inspired choice by Mayor Mamdani. At a moment when the City has committed to closing Rikers Island, shrinking the size of the jail system, improving conditions for those incarcerated as well as the staff who work in these facilities and, in a few years, opening smaller and more modern borough based jails, the oversight from the Board of Corrections has never been more important and meaningful as it is right now," said Michael Jacobson, Director of CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance. "Chris has spent his entire professional career, whether in his current role of Executive Vice President of the Center for Employment Opportunities where he has served for over a decade or his varied experience at the Center for Justice Innovation for over two decades, improving our systems of justice and the lives of those impacted by those systems. Chris has been one of New York City’s leaders in creating and scaling reentry programs, neighborhood-based community justice and mediation centers, and specialized courts that are designed to help and divert young people out of the criminal justice system. In all those jobs Chris has worked with the courts, the New York State prison and parole agencies and the New York City Department of Corrections. He is intimately familiar with how these systems operate, both formally and informally-knowledge that will serve him well as the Chair of this oversight and investigations agency whose mission is to help create and support safer, fairer, smaller, and more humane NYC jails. The entirety of Chris’s professional career and the unwavering respect he has from those he has helped as well as from community leaders, judges, advocates, government, nonprofit and elected officials all combine to make him the ideal choice for this important job especially at this historical moment.”

“I'm pleased to see the appointment of Chris Watler as Chair of the NYC Board of Corrections,” said Jonathan McLean, Chief Executive Officer of CASES. “Chris is a leader in work to shrink our criminal legal system and ensure accountability for all system actors. His skill at building partnerships and leading collaboratively makes him a strong choice for this role.”

“The Interfaith Center of New York welcomes the appointment of Chris Watler as Chair of the NYC Board of Corrections. It is good news for all New Yorkers: for the faith-based and community organizers who have labored for decades to support returning citizens; for the tireless advocates who have sought a safer, more equitable city that includes the closing of Rikers Island and opening of Borough Based Jails and mental health facilities; and for the justice-impacted individuals and their families for whom successful reentry into the community has been far too difficult,” said Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer Executive Director, The Interfaith Center of New York. “His whole career, Chris has fought for meaningful employment, training, and wraparound supports for people returning home from incarceration. His appointment as Chair of the Board of Corrections is a hopeful sign for a more transparent, humane, and fair corrections system and a new day in the City of New York.”

“Legal Action Center applauds the appointment of Christopher Walter as Chair of the Board of Correction. Chris has been a tremendous advocate for holistic and just reentry for New Yorkers returning from incarceration. His tireless commitment to making New York a safer city by investing in human potential and ensuring that people with conviction histories have the resources they need to find and retain meaningful employment will be a powerful asset as he provides oversight of the conditions in our city jails. We look forward to working with Chris in this new role and to advancing a safer, more just New York together,” said Megan French-Marcelin, Vice President of New York State Policy at the Legal Action Center.