FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Contact: Yonah Zeitz, yonah@katalcenter.org • 347-201-2769
Follow on socials @KatalCenter | #ShutRikers | #CutShutInvestNY
New Lippman Commission Report Fails to Hold Mayor Eric Adams Accountable for Abandoning the Plan to Shut Rikers and for Driving up the Jail Population
17 Months After its Re-Appointment, the Lippman Commission Issues “The Blueprint to Close Rikers”
Response by the Katal Center Members and NY Co-Directors
New York, NY: Today, the Lippman Commission released its latest report titled: “A Path Forward: The Blueprint to Close Rikers.” The Commission, which bills itself as “independent”, was first convened in 2016 by then-Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and then re-appointed by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams in collaboration with Mayor Adams in October 2023.
Since then, under Mayor Adams and Speaker Adams, the goal of closing Rikers by 2027 has slipped away and conditions at Rikers have continued to worsen. Violence is out of control, and the federal court is on the verge of taking over the jail complex due to the deadly conditions incarcerated people face. This week, the third person in less than a month died at Rikers and at least the 36th person to have died since Eric Adams became mayor in 2022.
Statements from Katal Center
Lah Franklin, Member of the Katal Center, said: “When I was sent to Rikers, I remember being terrified for my life. I don’t think anything can prepare you for the violence and life-threatening conditions found there. I am grateful to have made it out alive. My heart breaks for the family of 21-year-old Ariel Quidono, who passed away just this week at Rikers. This marks at least the 36th person to die while being detained in NYC jails since Mayor Adams took office. It is unconscionable that we have a mayor who refuses to care for our communities. Instead of working to shut down Rikers Island, he has been doing the complete opposite. This mayor is doing everything he can to criminalize communities of color and keep Rikers open. Today’s report released by the Lipmann Commission fails to highlight that the biggest obstacle to shutting down Rikers has been this mayor. Families are suffering, and real human lives have been lost. We demand accountability, and we need answers. This is not the time for independent institutions to provide political cover for the mayor. This is the time to hold him accountable for protecting NYC communities and shutting down Rikers.”
Robin Lawrence, Member of the Katal Center, said: “They’re killing our brothers, our sisters, our uncles, our fathers at Rikers Island, and we won’t stand for this. I have loved ones detained at Rikers that can testify to the horrible conditions. Rikers Island must be shut down, and Mayor Adams must be held accountable. Under Adams’s watch, violence at Riker has gone up and the jail population has skyrocketed because of his jail-first approach to public safety. He has been actively working to keep Rikers open. The Lippman Commission, as an independent body convened to ‘re-examine and refresh the plan to close the jail complex on Rikers Island,’ must be critical of this mayor and his lack of action to protect all New Yorkers and shut down Rikers Island.”
Statement by Melanie Dominguez and Yonah Zeitz, Katal NY co-directors: “We have worked in the past with the Lippman Commission and know they care deeply about the fight to shut down Rikers. And while this report provides powerful data and recommendations to reduce the jail population and get the city back on track to close Rikers, it’s baffling that the report fails to meaningfully address or even name the most significant obstacle to closing Rikers: Mayor Eric Adams.
Instead of working to address the crisis and shut down Rikers, since his first days in office, Mayor Adams has taken a jail-first approach to public safety and worked to increase the jail population while expressing opposition to the closure plan. To make matters worse, last month, in a quid pro quo to get his federal charges dropped, Adams announced that he would allow the Trump administration to bring ICE officers back onto Rikers, which would further criminalize New Yorkers. But the Commission’s report barely touches on Adams’s specific role in this story at all, and makes no mention at all of the Trump -Adams quid pro quo or the implications of ICE being let back on Rikers.
Perhaps we should not be surprised. In December 2023, Judge Lippman published an op-ed with Mayor Adams titled, “New York will close Rikers Island,” and Judge Lippman has been outspoken in the press that Adams is committed to closing Rikers. But there’s no evidence to date to prove this assertion, and there’s tons of evidence – including the mayor’s own statements – that demonstrates that the mayor is opposed to this plan and certainly isn’t working to implement it.
Meanwhile, the City Council under Speaker Adams has done little to hold this mayor accountable to the 2027 closure law.
The Commission should not claim to be independent if it will not also honestly and directly address that Mayor Adams is responsible for following the law and closing Rikers and has instead worked to undermine the closure plan, and that the City Council is responsible for holding the mayor accountable but under Speaker Adams has not done so.
With yet another death this week at Rikers, this city must act now to save lives. This City Council and mayor must not wait to implement this report – the report should not be treated as a recommendation for the next administration, it must be implemented now. People at Rikers are suffering now. People are dying now. The crisis is here today and is getting worse every passing week. With this report finally out, the city must act immediately. We will keep fighting until this jail is shut down, our city deserves nothing less.”
Background: #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 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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