New Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has made her first personnel move, naming a longtime aide as her chief of staff.
Ryan Merola had been at the Department of Sanitation as a deputy commissioner and chief of staff for Tisch, who served as sanitation commissioner for more than two years.
Before that, Merola was Tisch’s chief of staff when she ran the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications and the NYPD’s Department of Information Technology. He joined the NYPD in 2015 as a research specialist for its Intelligence Bureau.
“I have seen firsthand his sharp instincts, his commitment to service and his dedication to this city,” Tisch said of Merola on Wednesday at a promotion ceremony at the Police Academy. “He’s always risen to meet any challenge and now his work will benefit all New Yorkers.”
The move is one of at least several that Tisch, who was sworn in as the city’s top cop on Monday, is expected to make in the coming weeks.
Her predecessor, Thomas Donlon, who was appointed in September as interim NYPD commissioner, was involved in a public row at the New York City Marathon with his acting chief of staff, Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard. It is not clear if Sheppard, who has since returned to his role as deputy commissioner for public information, will stay on in that position.