Nineteen people died in the city’s custody in 2022 – the highest death rate since 2013. In recent years, those calls have amplified amid similar concerns related to the violent and inhumane nature of Rikers Island, which has been plagued by understaffing, gang violence, crumbling infrastructure, an influx of contraband and deaths of inmates. Under then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch, the public began calling for the island to be closed. The facility was heavily criticized in the 1970s and ’80s for overpopulation, dangerous conditions and violence against adolescent prisoners. Rikers, which opened in 1932, has a long history of abuse and negligence toward inmates. Rikers will not be able to close if there are more than 3,300 people incarcerated at the jails complex at the time it’s supposed to be replaced. Construction has already begun on the new jails, which will be able to hold a total of 3,300 people.

He has also attested that the Department of Correction has made strides in reducing violence and that stripping the city of its control would be a premature move.Īt the same time the Adams administration has cast doubt on the likelihood of Rikers Island closing by 2027 to be replaced with four borough-based jails as legally required. Swain’s decision is likely months away with the first legal filing due in November.Īdams has long resisted the prospect of a federal takeover, arguing that change is most likely when it comes from within city leadership. Whether Swain ultimately decides to appoint a federal receiver is not guaranteed at this point, but her motion will allow federal prosecutors and lawyers representing incarcerated people to argue in the prospect’s favor. Her ruling is the latest in a string of movements building momentum for a takeover of New York City jails. “The defendants have not yet shown me that they are willing and able to make the rapid, radical changes in the administration of the jails that are necessary to protect the people who are in their custody.” “The people incarcerated at Rikers are at a grave risk of immediate harm,” Federal District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain said at a key Manhattan court hearing Aug.

After years of terse arguments and reports detailing violence that’s long permeated Rikers Island, a federal judge opened the door to stripping New York City of its control over the embattled jail complex.

Dead cells key in prison rooftops