FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 17, 2025
Contact: Yonah Zeitz: yonah@katalcenter.org • 347-201-2769
Follow on socials @KatalCenter • #ShutRikers #CutShutInvestNY
Another Death at Rikers, the 3rd Person to Die in Less Than A Month
The NY Legislature Must Take Swift Action to Increase Jail Oversight and Shut Down Deadly Correctional Facilities
New York, NY: This evening, news broke that Ariel Quidone, 21-years-old, died after being incarcerated at the Robert N. Davoren Center on Rikers Island. This is the third death at Rikers in less than a month and at least the 36th person to have died since Eric Adams became mayor in 2022.
Statement from Yonah Zeitz, advocacy director for the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice: “This is horrific news. We send our deepest condolences to Ariel Quidone’s family and loved ones.
Rikers is dangerous and deadly. The conditions of NYC’s jails are life-threatening for the people incarcerated there, for their families, and for those who work there. Riker must be shut down, yet Mayor Adams has made it abundantly clear that he could care less about saving lives and following the law. Since taking office, conditions have gotten worse and he’s abandoned the plan to close Rikers. Instead, Adams is hellbent on sending more Black, brown, and low-income New Yorkers to Rikers.
Like tens of thousands of New Yorkers, our members and their families have experienced the inhuman conditions of Rikers. No family should have to go through this. No more deaths. Rikers is a disaster. We demand action!
The mayor is throwing gasoline on fire that is Rikers and the City Council has consistently failed to hold him accountable. We demand lawmakers in Albany take swift action by passing legislation to expand and strengthen the State Commission of Correction (S. 856)-Salazar / (A.2315)-Gallagher. This legislation will compel the Commission to meet its mandate, which includes an obligation to shut down correctional facilities, such as Rikers, to prevent unsafe conditions, injuries and death. Now is the time, lives have been lost, and more lives are at stake.”
###
