Newly minted NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has appointed a longtime ally to be her right hand staffer — making him the department’s highest-ranking openly gay officer.
Ryan Merola was sworn to serve as Tisch’s chief of staff during a promotion ceremony in Queens Wednesday, marking the new top cop’s first personnel decision.
Merola boasts a long career in public service, often mirroring Tisch’s own path.
He served as chief of staff under Tisch when she headed the sanitation department, and worked in the NYPD’s technology and counterterrorism departments.
Merola also served as executive director for the Gay Officers Action League, which celebrated his historic appointment.
“At that time he will become the highest ranking openly gay and fully out NYPD Member of the Gay Officers Action League,” the group’s president, Brian Downey, said in an email from the LGBTQIA+Advisory Committee to the police commissioner.
“Ryan has worked on many critically important projects for us over the years. He helped coordinate the NYPD’s response and resource deployment to Orlando, FL in the wake of the Pulse Nightclub massacre,” Downey said. “He has always been a fierce advocate for our members, oftentimes to the highest levels law enforcement and government.”
The choice is an early sign that Tisch is putting her stamp on NYPD leadership in a way that most of her unprecedented three predecessors under first-term Mayor Eric Adams had not.
Merola’s appointment also kicks hot-headed former acting Chief of Staff Tarik Sheppard back to his job heading the NYPD’s press office.
Sheppard held both jobs under Interim Police Commissioner Tom Donlon, who was none too pleased with him serving as chief of staff, according to sources.
The pair infamously publicly brawled at the NYC Marathon — a fight that sources said was sparked by Sheppard blocking Donlon from a photo op.
Ahead of Merola’s appointment, Sheppard updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect he’s only serving as deputy commissioner of public information.
Sheppard declined to comment Wednesday to the Post reporter he once called a “f—ing scumbag.”
