FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 25, 2026
Contact: Yonah Zeitz, yonah@katalcenter.org | (347) 201-2769
Follow on socials @KatalCenter | #ShutRikers | #CutShutInvestNY
Directly Impacted People Respond to Today’s New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice Hearing on Improving Court Operations to Reduce the Jail Population
This Year’s FY 2027 Executive Budget Increases the DOC’s Bloated Budget and Fails to Significantly Fund Efforts to Reduce the City’s Jail Population, Leaving the Rikers Island Closure Plan in Limbo
New York, NY: Today, the Committee on Criminal Justice held an Oversight Hearing on Improving Court Operations to Reduce the Jail Population. Right now, the crisis at Rikers is worsening, the jail population is rising, and the closure plan remains off track. Since the City Council passed the law to close Rikers Island in the fall of 2019, nearly 80 people have died in city jails.
Reducing the city’s jail population is a critical component to advancing the closure of Rikers. This year’s FY2027 Executive Budget takes some steps in the right direction, but ultimately falls short of making significant investments to reduce the jail population at Rikers. The FY2027 executive budget allocates $2.96 billion to DOC, representing a 3.8% increase over last year’s adopted budget. Additionally, during the campaign, Mamdani pledged to keep the NYPD officer headcount flat, yet the budget processes expanded the already enormous police force by adding 580 new officers. This increased funding for the DOC and the expansion of the NYPD means the mayor is not meeting his commitments to sustainable funding for services that New Yorkers rely on: for instance, the mayor said he’d commit 0.5% of the city budget to libraries and 1% to parks, both of which fall short in this budget.
The city’s increased DOC budget also fails to provide more details on the borough-based jails’ cost overruns and timelines. The city clearly has no intent to meet the legal closure deadline of 2027, but it has also not reconfigured the plan to provide a definitive date for when Rikers will be closed.
The solutions to reduce the city’s jail population and advance the closure of Rikers have been thoroughly documented in a host of detailed reports published by reputable sources over the last many years (see our written testimony for examples). These reports provide clear and actionable steps that the Mayor, City Council, and the courts can take to reduce the jail population at Rikers.
These recommendations offer clear, proven solutions to safely reduce the jail population and ensure people receive the effective care and support they deserve. If this mayoral administration and city council were truly committed to closing Rikers, these recommendations would be part of this year’s budget.
See Katal’s written testimony for today’s oversight hearing here.
Quotes from impacted community members and community group:
Kevin Valentine, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “I still remember how terrible the conditions at Rikers Island were when I was detained there. That is something that stays with a person forever, and I’m fighting to ensure that no one ever has to experience this violent and deadly jail complex. Since the City Council passed the law to close Rikers in 2019, nearly 80 people have died in city jails, and this only includes the deaths that were recognized by the Department of Correction. Mayor Mamdani must act with urgency to shut it down. It is disheartening that the Mayor’s proposed FY2027 Executive Budget does not reflect this urgency, with a 3.8% increase for the Department of Correction and an increase of 580 NYPD officers. Using our taxpayer dollars to allocate money to continue to arrest and incarcerate Black, Brown, and low-income New Yorkers is unacceptable. We call on the New York City Council to use its legislative and budgetary power to hold the Mayor accountable to reduce the jail population and shut down Rikers.”
Baron Lee, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “Individuals who I care about have been scarred by Rikers Island. People detained at Rikers Island are experiencing horrible violence and are left to languish. This must come to an end, and the only way that will happen is by shutting down this deadly jail complex. Mayor Mamdani’s current budget proposal does not advance efforts to close Rikers, but it maintains the status quo. Instead of increasing the Department of Corrections budget by 3.8% over last year’s budget, the Mayor should invest in alternatives to incarceration. It is disappointing that the Mayor is not being aggressive with this budget, and we call on him to cut the budget used for caging people, shut down Rikers, and invest in housing, healthcare, education, and jobs.”
Yonah Zeitz, Advocacy Director at the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “The FY 2027 Executive Budget continues the status quo of increasing the budgets used to arrest and cage people while inadequately funding the programs and services proven to reduce the jail population and allow New Yorkers to thrive. This comes as the conditions at Rikers continue to worsen, the jail population rises, the death toll increases, and the closure plan is off track. Our testimony outlines clear and actionable steps that the Mayor, City Council, and the courts can take to reduce the jail population at Rikers. Now, they must have the political courage and will to actually implement these solutions.
We urge the Committee on Criminal Justice and the full City Council to hold up the city budget process until the administration puts forward a measurable, funded plan to shut down Rikers. The City Council must use its legislative and budgetary power to reduce the jail population, advance the closure of Rikers, and hold the mayor accountable to the closure law. Lives are at stake.”
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