Rikers Island

Updated Politics

A timeline on the closure of Rikers Island

The long-awaited decision on a federal takeover will have to wait till an unknown date.

Opinion

Opinion

Commentary: Yet another hearing about sexual violence on Rikers Island

This time the City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee chair Sandy Nurse voiced her frustration at the Department of Correction’s continuing failure to provide transparency.

Adams probes

Politics

Direction of Rikers receivership could soon change if Eric Adams is out and Jumaane Williams takes over

Should the mayor no longer be in office before Nov. 12, the public advocate would be in charge and answering a judge’s order to outline what a receiver’s role will look like.

Rikers Island

Opinion

Opinion: Is it possible to get the effort to close Rikers Island back on track?

The troubled jail’s closure has been cast adrift in a sea of half truths, bad ideas and polarized debate.

Criminal Justice

Politics

Rikers replacement jails won't be ready by 2027 deadline, City Hall budget director says

“We know it’s not going to happen by 2027,” Budget Director Jacques Jiha said of the plan to close Rikers Island, during a discussion of the city’s capital budget.

Opinion

Opinion

Commentary: A look at the new New York City Department of Correction Commissioner’s attempts at transparency show slow to no progress

Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, previously the first deputy commissioner of the department, made tall promises to the Board of Correction that she didn’t deliver on.

Rikers Island

Politics

Exclusive: New Rikers commission unveils list of members

The former New York City probation commissioner and a former deputy mayor will join many original members to get the closure plan back on track.

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion: The feds must take control of Rikers and then close it

Should the city jails be put into receivership or should Rikers be closed? The only correct answer is both.

News & Politics

Politics

Which city leaders are calling for a federal takeover of Rikers Island?

The city comptroller, public advocate, state attorney general, federal prosecutors and even former DOC commissioners all support federal receivership for the city’s jails.

Rikers Island

Politics

Federal monitor concludes DOC is incapable of running Rikers well

The monitor’s latest report finds that stabbings are up, deaths in custody are continuing and nothing will change so long as DOC is in charge.

Rikers Island

Policy

What would receivership look like for Rikers Island?

Here are the options a judge has for stripping New York City of its control of the dysfunctional jail complex.

Policy

Policy

After PR stunts, damning reports and a new lawsuit, judge sets stage for potential federal takeover of Rikers next year

Federal judge Laura Taylor Swain is losing patience with the city Department of Correction, which has now come under fire from the court-appointed federal monitor, Legal Aid Society, federal prosecutors, city comptroller and Board of Correction.

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion: Closing Rikers is the joke of the decade

There’s no way Rikers will be replaced by four borough-based jails by 2027. So let’s reform Rikers instead.

Editor's Note

Opinion

Editor's Note: How many more will die at Rikers?

The city keeps sending people to the infamous jail complex, and people keep dying.

Policy

Policy

More people have died in New York City jails than previously known

Since 2014, at least 120 people held in city jails have died while in custody or shortly after being released on medical grounds – but some of those deaths have gone unreported.

Policy

Policy

Here's how parents are really treated on Rikers

Unable to exercise their parental rights, incarcerated fathers and mothers can often feel isolated from their children.

Rikers Island

Policy

Elected officials sound the alarm on proposed city budget cuts to Rikers

Amid proposed cuts to jail-based programming, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams says the Eric Adams administration is at a crossroads

Rikers Island

Politics

Comptroller and public advocate tour Rikers, call on feds to take over Rikers

After touring the jail complex, Brad Lander and Jumaane Williams said the city cannot be trusted to manage Rikers Island.