FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Contact: Yonah Zeitz: yonah@katalcenter.org • 347-201-2769
Follow on Twitter/X @KatalCenter • #ShutRikers #CutShutInvestNY
The Crisis at Rikers Worsens as Another Person Dies in DOC Custody –the Fifth Person This Year and the 33rd Since Mayor Eric Adams Took Office
With Abuse, Violence, and Dysfunction out of Control at Rikers, Calls Grow for a Federal Receiver to Intervene and Save Lives
New York, NY: Today, news broke that yet another person died while in custody of the New York City Department of Correction (DOC). This is the fifth person to die in DOC custody this year – and at least the 33rd person to have died since Mayor Eric Adams took office in 2022. This death follows repeated reports of widespread sexual abuse, missed medical appointments, and intolerably high levels of violence at Rikers. On August 8, The New York Times reported that the DOC missed taking people held at Rikers to over 12,000 medical appointments in May alone.
Impacted people, community groups, and elected officials continue to demand that the federal courts take urgent action and appoint an independent receiver to improve conditions and save lives until the notorious Rikers Island jail complex is shut down once and for all.
Statement from Melanie Dominguez, organizing director for the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice: “It is heartbreaking – yet expected under the administration of Mayor Eric Adams – that another human being has died at Rikers. We send our deepest condolences to the man’s family and loved ones.
Every week, news breaks about the ongoing horrors and abuse at Rikers. The disregard and neglect of incarcerated people’s mental and physical health is reprehensible. Katal’s members, many of whom have been detained at Rikers or have loved ones there, are beyond frustrated by the utter mismanagement and dysfunction of the Adams administration. The situation is untenable and cannot continue – or more people will suffer harm and die.
What’s happening at Rikers is a horrible nonstop disaster. And Mayor Adams is working to make it worse by sending more Black, brown, and low-income people to the deadly jail complex. In less than three years, he’s worked to increase the jail population by over 1,500 people, and at least 33 people have died in the city’s jail system. Rikers must be shut down. Until that happens, we demand immediate action to save lives. We urge the New York City Council to swiftly pass Resolution 183, which calls for a federal receiver to improve conditions until Rikers is closed. The council can take this concrete step to help protect incarcerated people and staff at Rikers and hold Mayor Adams accountable for the crisis in city jails under his watch.”
###
