FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 31, 2026
Contact: Yonah Zeitz: yonah@katalcenter.org • 347-201-2769
Follow on socials @KatalCenter • #ShutRikers #CutShutInvestNY
NYC’s Legal Deadline to Close the Rikers Island Jail Complex Is One Year Away on August 31st, 2027 – Since the City Committed to Closing Rikers, Over 100 People Have Died in DOC Custody, including 7 This Year
With a Bloated Jail Population and Construction Delays, the Mamdani Administration Has Stated They Will Not Meet Legal Deadline, But Has Failed to Provide a Definitive Date for Closure
Directly Impacted People Call on the Mayor to Reduce the Jail Population and Shut Down Rikers Once and For All
Statement by Katal Center
New York, NY – Today marks exactly one year from the August 31st, 2027 legally mandated deadline to shutter the notorious and deadly Rikers Island Jail Complex.
After years of pressure from a broad range of community and advocacy groups, including Katal, on March 31, 2017, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio publicly committed to closing Rikers and made it official City policy. Since the city pledged to shut Rikers, over 100 people have died in DOC custody (check out this new tracker to see all the deaths at Rikers and in DOC custody since March 31, 2017).
In October 2019, then-Mayor De Blasio and former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced an agreement to close Rikers Island by 2026 and open four borough-based jails in all the boroughs (except Staten Island). On October 17th, 2019, the City Council approved the plan – the timeline was later moved to August 31st, 2027. The approved plan capped the cumulative number of people incarcerated at 3,300 on any given day, a cap later increased to 3,900 by the Adams administration.
Under Mayor Eric Adams, the closure plan was outright abandoned. The Adams administration missed or flat-out ignored nearly every deadline and legal and process benchmark related to the city’s enacted 2019 closure plan. One key tenet of the plan was decarceration, and Adams ‘jail-first” public safety led to the city’s jail population increasing for the first time in decades—completely counter to the closure plan.
Now, nine months into the Mamdani administration, the closure plan remains off track. As of August 30, 2026, there were 6,499 people incarcerated in New York City jails, several thousand more than the required maximum number. The construction delays for the borough-based jails go well beyond 2032 – five years after the required deadline.
In Mayor Mamdani’s first budget, finalized on July 1st, the city increased the DOC budget but failed 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 August 31st, 2027, but it has also not reconfigured the plan to provide a definitive date for when Rikers will be closed.
Kevin Valentine, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “It is unequivocally clear that Rikers must be closed immediately. This was true when I was detained there a few years back, and it is true today. This year alone, there have been seven individuals who have died while in the custody of the NYC Department of Correction. I am horrified and cannot fathom having Rikers continue to operate beyond the legal closure deadline of August 2027. While I appreciate the Mayor’s intentions to close Rikers, these good intentions can only go so far and must be backed by urgent action to safely reduce the jail population and close Rikers once and for all. What we are asking from Mayor Mamdani at this moment is for action and transparency around the timeline to close Rikers once and for all.”
Ziyadah Amatul-Matin, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “As a mom who has had a son and a brother incarcerated, I know first-hand how dangerous Rikers is, and it infuriates me to this day that elected officials are not taking the necessary action to address this crisis. I’ve had the privilege to speak with other moms who have had a loved one detained at Rikers, and their only hope is to ensure that their kids come back home alive. Everyone deserves a second chance, and they all have a right to live. Mayor Mamdani has stated the city won’t be able to meet the deadline to close Rikers by August 2027, yet has not disclosed any information on what their plan will be moving forward. We desperately need answers and a plan that safely reduces the jail population to shut Rikers as soon as possible. There is no reason why people detained at Rikers are waiting for months for a hearing; there is no reason why people with a severe mental illness are being detained at Rikers; there are clear, effective, and appropriate pathways to cut the city jail population that can be implemented now. Rikers cannot remain open a day longer, and the city must shut it down, while keeping in mind the incarcerated individuals who are awaiting pre-sentencing.”
Anthony Conley, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “A lot of my homies have been incarcerated at Rikers, and the violence they are experiencing there is unimaginable. There is no question about how horrible the conditions are; millions of people can attest to what is unfolding there, and when you hear their stories, you understand why Rikers must close. We are at the point where there should be an immediate shutdown of Rikers Island. Black and brown lives are being lost at Rikers, and regardless of what brought them there, we cannot lose sight of humanity. For the Mamdani Administration to state that they won’t meet the 2027 deadline to close and offer no information on their plan moving forward is irresponsible. There is no time to sit down and wait when every day that Rikers is open, people’s lives are at risk. What we have seen so far from this administration has been disappointing and is showing me that he is not concerned about this crisis. Why is this administration continuing to put more money into the NYPD and the DOC? Enough is enough. Mayor Mamdani, you must cut the number of people detained at Rikers, shut it down, and invest in alternatives to incarceration.”
Waheedah Abdul-Mateen, Member of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “As a mom, who has lived through the endless nightmare that is to have a son incarcerated and then losing them due to the medical neglect and horrible violence they endured in prison, my heart goes out to all the parents who are grieving the loss of their kid. There have been seven people who died while under the custody of the NYC Department of Correction, that is one too many. I know what happens at Rikers and jails and prisons across New York and that is that people are being denied basic human rights. Incarcerated individuals are being denied medical care. When they experience mistreatment and file complaints their concerns are being ignored. They don’t follow up with them directly or even their families. Too many lives are being lost and there has been no progress as it relates to the closure of Rikers. Mayor Mamdani you must act with urgency to address this crisis at Rikers and the shut it down once and for all.”
Melanie Dominguez and Yonah Zeitz, Organizing and Advocacy Directors at the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “Through our #ShutRikers canvassing project, we knocked on 200,000 doors and talked to tens of thousands of New Yorkers, an overwhelming majority of whom want Rikers to be closed immediately. People want investments in their communities, into their youth and elders, into survivor-centered responses to harm, and so many more things that lead to true community safety. New Yorkers are sick and tired of 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.
As the conditions at Rikers continue to worsen, the jail population remains too high, and the death toll increases, our communities are looking for the Mamdani administration to take urgent action. We need more than words; we need funding in the budget for decarceration, alternatives to incarceration, mental health, supportive housing, and all things we know will safely reduce the jail population and advance closure. And most importantly, we need an accelerated, definitive date for when the city will close Rikers. Lives are at stake, and this moment requires political courage and a will to act with the urgency this crisis demands.
Rikers is a stain on this city and should not exist. We’ll keep fighting with our members and community partners to ensure it is shuttered once and for all.”
#ShutRikers is a campaign of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice. Katal members, supporters, and our allies are working to cut the correctional population and the budgets used for caging people; shut down Rikers Island; and invest in real community safety: housing, health care, education, and jobs.
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