Thank you, Chair Sandy Nurse, for holding today’s Committee on Criminal Justice. My name is Melanie Dominguez and I am the New York Organizing Director at the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, based in Brooklyn. Our members are from across the city, and include people who have been incarcerated, family members of currently and formerly incarcerated people, and more. Many of our members know exactly how horrific Rikers really is and are deeply concerned by the ongoing disaster unfolding in the city’s jail system.
We submit this testimony to bring your attention to the crisis at Rikers and the need to immediately shutter the notorious and deadly jail complex. New Yorkers across the city are deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis playing out in our city’s jail system. Since Mayor Eric Adams took office, the overlapping crises and scandals on Rikers Island – and in his administration – have worsened.
The conditions at New York City’s massive jail complex are horrific and life-threatening for human beings – the people incarcerated and those who work there.[i] Violence is rampant.[ii] Racism and other types of bias are deeply entrenched.[iii] And though Black and Latinx people constitute about half of the city’s population, they represent almost 90 percent of jail admissions.[iv] Under Mayor Adams, conditions at Rikers have gotten worse, violence at Rikers is out of control, and at least 33 people have died in the city’s jail system since Adams became mayor in 2022.[v]
News broke earlier this month that the construction timelines for the borough-based jails have been delayed to 2032 – five years after the 2027 Rikers closure deadline. These delays to closure make it clear that Mayor Adams has abandoned every aspect of the city’s 2019 law to shutter Rikers. Instead, he is working to keep Rikers open. Shortly after taking office, Adams stated that there needs to be a “plan B” for the city’s plan to shutter the notorious jail complex; [vi] in January 2025, Adams again trashed the city law to close Rikers as an example of “not real policies.”[vii] Action speak louder than words and Mayor Adams has missed or ignored the legal and process benchmarks required to close Rikers.
One of the most glaring examples of this abandonment is the rising jail population. The 2027 Closure Plan calls for reducing the number of people in jail, but under Adams, the jail population is going up. As of January 21, 2024, more than 6,600 people were incarcerated in city jails – an increase of nearly 20 percent since Mayor Adams took office in 2022.[viii] That means 1,200 more people behind bars – most of whom are Black, brown, and low-income people.
The conditions at Rikers have gotten so bad that a federal court is on the verge of appointing a federal receiver to take over the jail complex. In November 2024, Judge Swain said she was “inclined” to appoint an independent receiver citing that “the record in this case makes clear that those who live and work in the jails on Rikers Island are faced with grave and immediate threats of danger.”[ix]
Similar to obstructing the closure plan, when it comes to federal receivership Mayor Adams seeks to make a mockery of the process by proposing the Court to appoint the current DOC Commissioner, Lynelle Maginley-Liddie as a “Compliance Director.” Instead of working on a sensible plan to solve the crisis at Rikers, the city, under Mayor Adams, is fighting to maintain the status quo which will lead to more violence and deaths.
Until Rikers is shut down, the federal courts must appoint an independent receiver to take over city jails and improve conditions for both the people incarcerated there and those who work there.[x] The City Council should swiftly pass Resolution 183, which calls for the appointment of a federal receiver. With the mayor constantly working to skirt accountability and the utter mismanagement of the DOC, the Council must step up in this moment and call for an independent receiver to take over the jail complex and address the longstanding issues.
Katal and other community organizations have worked for years to shut down Rikers and hold Adams accountable by demanding action from the federal courts to reduce violence and save lives. Many city and state elected leaders have called for a federal receiver at Rikers, including New York State Attorney General Letitia James, the city’s Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, over 20 city council members, more than two dozen state legislators, and over 100 community, faith, and advocacy organizations. Now, the City Council must catch up.
With this recent attempt by the Adams administration to undermine the process, it is vital for the city to urgently pass this resolution. Passing Resolution 183 is a concrete step this council can take right now to address the crisis at Rikers.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
