**PRESS RELEASE**
June 2, 2025
Contact: Yonah Zeitz | 347-201-2768 | yonah@katalcenter.org
Follow online: #ShutRikers #CutShutInvestNY | @katalcenter | shutrikers.org
New: Katal Releases New Tool Tracking Positions of Mayoral Candidates on Closing Rikers Island and Other Key Criminal Justice Reforms
Rikers In Chaos as Federal Court Prepares Unprecedented Intervention – Where Do the Candidates Stand?
New York, NY—Today, the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice released a new tool for voters and journalists, tracking the public statements and campaign positions of all declared mayoral candidates related to a range of criminal justice issues. In particular, the tracker focuses on candidate statements and positions related to Rikers. An unprecedented level of chaos and violence at Rikers has recently led a federal court to take the extremely rare step of appointing a “remediation manager” over the jails. Whoever takes office in 2026 will do so as the federal court takes control of a wide range of functions at the jail complex. Additionally, a city law to close Rikers, first passed in 2019, mandates the facilities be shut down by 2027 but ina recent report by a reform commission, the city is not ready to meet this deadline. Whoever takes office in 2026 will be responsible for meeting, or changing, the closure deadline.
See the mayor’s race Rikers tracker here.
The tracker reports candidate positions on the following:
- Closing Rikers
- The current city plan to close Rikers (called the 2027 closure plan)
- Receivership (takeover by the federal court)
- Reforming the State Commission on Corrections (a state watchdog agency with authority to close down facilities like Rikers)
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Rikers
- Decarceration
- Investments in alternatives to incarceration
- Solitary Confinement
- Bail reform
- Discovery Reform
- Speedy Trial Reform
- Additional funding for NYPD or Dept of Corrections
- Treatment not jail/treatment options for incarcerated people
The data source for the tracker are the public statements and campaign positions of the candidates, found in media articles, press releases, social media posts, and on their campaign websites.
Every declared mayoral candidate is included in the tracker, though Katal could not find a statement or position by every candidate on every single issue in the tracker.
Melanie Dominguez, organizing director of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “Our members come from across the entire city and have been fighting to shut down Rikers and win a more fair, just, and equitable city for all. We hope this tracker helps our members and all voters get a clearer picture of where all the candidates stand on issues important to communities throughout our city.”
Yonah Zeitz, advocacy director of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “This year’s mayor race is consequential in the fight to shut Rikers. This tracker was developed to inform voters, the press, and community groups about where all candidates running for mayor stand on key issues related to closing Rikers and other criminal justice reforms. By pulling together this data from the candidates’ public statements and their own campaign materials, we can learn about their positions on some of our city’s most pressing issues.”
Background: #ShutRikers is a campaign of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice. Katal and our allies are working to cut the correctional populations and the budgets used for caging people; shut down Rikers Island; and invest in real public safety: housing, health care, education, and jobs.