FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 27, 2027
Contact: Contact: Yonah Zeitz | 347-201-2768 | yonah@katalcenter.org
Follow on BlueSky @KatalCenter | #ShutRikers | #CutShutInvestNY
Federal Court Appoints Nicholas Deml as a Remediation Manager to Take Over Rikers Island to Address Violence and Dysfunction
Community Group Calls for Remediation Manager to Immediately Address the Crisis in City Jails and Advance the Closure of Rikers
Statement from Katal Center
New York, NY: Today, Judge Laura Taylor Swain filed a decision in federal court to appoint Nicholas Deml as a remediation manager to take control of Rikers Island to reduce violence and address the constitutional violations. Judge Swain ordered the city and Mr. Deml to confidentially submit to the Court a report in 21 days reflecting the agreements they’ve reached.
For three years, community groups and people directly impacted by Rikers have called on the federal courts to appoint an independent receiver to improve conditions at Rikers until it is shut down.
Statement from Melanie Dominguez, Organizing Director at the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice.
“For decades, New Yorkers, including our members, have experienced the dangerous and deadly conditions at Rikers. During the previous administration, the conditions at Rikers worsened and the closure plan was abandoned. Since 2022, nearly 50 people have died in New York City jails and violence remains rampant.
As the situation at Rikers has worsened, Katal and our allies have organized across the city and rallied in front of the courts to demand intervention at Rikers. Receivership is a tool of last resort. In this instance, it is a drastic and necessary measure to save lives. The remediation manager must move swiftly and should be bound to the city’s legal mandate to shut Rikers. Anything less is unacceptable. The Mamdani Administration must also work with the remediation manager to improve conditions, save lives, reduce the jail population, and get the closure process back on track.
We thank the Legal Aid Society for their persistent work in the courtroom to secure this appointment.”
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.
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