**PRESS RELEASE**
September 25, 2024
Contact: Yonah Zeitz 347-201-2768
yonah@katalcenter.org
Follow online: #ShutRikers #CutShutInvestNY | @katalcenter | shutrikers.org
Community Groups, Elected Officials, and Directly Impacted People Hold #ShutRikers Rally To Call for Federal Courts to Take Over Rikers
Under Mayor Adams, at Least 33 People Have Died in City Jails, and the Administration Faces Possible Contempt of Court Penalties for Refusing to Follow Federal Court Orders Related to Rikers
Until Rikers is Shut Down, Federal Courts Must Immediately Appoint a Federal Receiver to Take Over at Rikers to Save Lives and Improve Conditions
New York, NY—Today, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan held a hearing about the ongoing disaster at the Rikers Island jail complex. After hearing oral arguments from the Legal Aid Society and the City, Judge Laura Taylor Swain will issue a ruling promptly on whether to hold the Adams administration in contempt for failing to follow court orders to improve conditions and reduce violence at Rikers. Before the hearing, the #ShutRikers campaign and its allies gathered near the courthouse to demand that the city shut down Rikers. Then, participants marched to Foley Square and rallied to demand the federal courts to appoint an independent receiver to save lives.
Since Mayor Eric Adams took office, the overlapping crises and scandals on Rikers Island have worsened. With violence out of control and the jail population steadily rising, dysfunction continues to reign at the New York City Department of Correction (DOC). This has resulted in at least 33 people dying in city jails under Mayor Adams. The most recent report issued by the federal monitor for Rikers found that “the jails remain dangerous and unsafe, characterized by a pervasive, imminent risk of harm to both people in custody and staff.”
The myriad problems and the monitor’s consistent reports have increased the call for the federal courts to take control of city jails away from Mayor Adams and appoint an independent federal receiver. Many of the city and state’s 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 dozens of community, faith, and advocacy organizations. (See the full list of supporters.).
Resolution 183 in the City Council would, if passed, put the council on record in support of a federal receiver at Rikers. The resolution is pending.
Speakers and other participants at today’s march and rally continue to demand that Mayor Adams shut down Rikers. Until that happens, the federal courts should hold the city in contempt and appoint an independent receiver who can help save lives.
Statements from elected officials, impacted people, and community and advocacy groups:
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, said: “As it is, New York City’s jails system is a moral stain on the city and must be cleaned up. The Department of Corrections’ mismanagement fails to turn around Rikers into a more humane and less deadly place. So instead the City must focus on closing Rikers—by lowering the population of Rikers, speeding up case processing times, and dedicating beds for folks with severe mental illness. If the City can’t or won’t do what it must, we need a federal receiver who will commit to getting Rikers back on track.”
Senator Julia Salazar, Chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime, and Correction, said: “The conditions at Rikers are deplorably unfit for use. As if the soaring number of deaths didn’t speak for itself, federal officials have warned that incarcerated people and corrections staff on the island face an ‘imminent risk of harm’ around the clock each and every day. The status quo is simply unacceptable, and Rikers must be put in the hands of a federal receivership immediately. I urge the court to take this urgently necessary step to save lives and stand up for basic decency. Closing this egregiously violent facility is our ultimate goal, and we won’t stop until we succeed.”
Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest, said: “For far too long, the Department of Correction has ignored the courts and the cries of advocates, showing a complete disregard for human life, dignity, and justice. Every day, incarcerated New Yorkers—many of them awaiting trial and not yet convicted—are subjected to appalling, inhumane conditions and extreme violence. Lives are being lost, and families are being destroyed, all while the city drags its feet and refuses to implement the reforms that could save lives. This is not just a failure of policy—it’s a moral failure. The city has been given chance after chance to do the right thing, yet it continues to put politics and bureaucracy over people. Judge Swain must act decisively now. Holding the city in contempt is not just about enforcing the law—it’s about standing up for justice, for the safety of those in custody, and for the dignity of all New Yorkers.”
Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, said: “Yet another year has gone by with the horrors of Rikers Island being allowed to continue. Mayor Adams needs to do the right thing and shut down Rikers, but until he does, we’re calling on the court to bring the jail complex under immediate federal control. This facility has been unable to ensure basic constitutional rights and humanitarian standards. Enough is enough. Federal control now.”
Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, said: “The numerous times I have visited Rikers confirms to me that we must close this jail. Rikers is full of people struggling with mental health emergencies and the pains of poverty- many of these folks need resources, not jail time. The conditions at Rikers continue to get worse, with countless deaths, missed trial dates, and missed medical appointments showing an inability to properly care for our incarcerated population. We must close Rikers and immediately appoint a receiver in the meantime to reduce violence and improve conditions.”
Council Member Sandy Nurse, Chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice, said: “I am proud to stand with those directly impacted by the Rikers Island crisis because we have reached a critical point where urgent action is needed. This is a matter of public safety and quality of life. As we continue to witness ongoing violence, dangerous conditions, and tragic loss of life, we must do everything in our power to address the situation at Rikers. The wellbeing of those in the city’s care should be our highest priority.”
Council Member Shekar Krishnan, said: “The continuing humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island is an urgent human rights crisis that our city cannot continue to overlook. The Federal monitor, prosecutors and advocates agree that the rampant deaths and inhumane conditions on Rikers Island cannot be improved until federal courts step in and appoint a receiver. However, that is not nearly enough. Rikers must be closed. I am grateful to the Katal Center for fighting to improve conditions on Rikers.”
Council Member Alexa Avilés, said: “If we have the resources to trial-run paying robots to patrol our subway stations, we have the money to end the humanitarian catastrophe that is Rikers Island. We must hold this administration to the letter of the law. We must close Rikers for good.”
Council Member Chi Ossé, said: “The jail on Rikers Island is an ongoing humanitarian crisis and an embarrassment. It must be closed. But even before that happens, the detainees need immediate relief. It is clear the we need federal courts to step in. This disaster folding in our own city cannot be allowed to continue any longer.”
Council Member Shahana Hanif, said: “The Administration and DOC’s total disregard for legal mandates aimed at reducing violence and improving conditions at Rikers has resulted in the deaths of over 33 individuals in Rikers jails over the past two years. We need to close Rikers Island immediately and invest in genuine community and public safety solutions before more lives are lost.”
Melanie Dominguez, Organizing Director at the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, said: “Since day one, Mayor Eric Adams has not only refused to address the exacerbating crisis unfolding at Rikers Island, but he has consistently made it worse. Adams’s jail-first approach to public safety has drastically increased the city’s jail population, violence remains out of control, and at least 33 incarcerated people have died under his watch. To put fuel to the fire, Adams has also outright abandoned the city’s plan to close Rikers by 2027. For a mayor currently under multiple federal investigations, it is no surprise that he would be actively skirting city law. And like the rest of his administration, the Department of Correction is riddled with corruption, dysfunction, and mismanagement. This is precisely why Katal members have been organizing across the city to demand immediate action. And it’s why we’re here today. The federal courts should take drastic measures to keep incarcerated people safe and improve conditions. The Adams administration should be held in contempt of court, and until Rikers is shut down, the federal courts must appoint an independent receiver to improve conditions and save lives.”
Lori Zeno, Executive Director of Queens Defenders, said: “As public defenders, we hear directly from our clients about the inhumane living conditions they experience while being held at Rikers Island. Despite encouraging recent announcements by the Adams Administration regarding their commitment to closing Rikers by 2027 and investing in community-based programming, a Federal Receiver must be appointed to address the chronic mismanagement of the facility. From reports of regular violence to the DOC’s inability to manage basic medical needs, it is clear that a change is needed and needed now.”
Khary Lazarre White, the Executive Director & Co-Founder at The Brotherhood Sister Sol, said: “The Brotherhood Sister Sol continues to demand the closing of Rikers Island. The jail has been, and continues to be, a horrific place that is a stain on our city. It is a moral and ethical horror. 33 people have died in this jail since 2022. Once again deemed ‘unsafe’ and ‘dangerous’ by the federal monitor, it is a dreadful place that holds overwhelming low income people who have been convicted of no crime – but languish there due to economic poverty. It must close. Now.”
Serena Martin, Executive Director of New Hour for Women and Children, said: “New Hour works with women and mothers who have survived Rikers. We know there is only one solution to prevent the lifelong trauma that Rikers creates- close the jail complex once and for all to save lives, reunite families and allow people to heal. The fact is nine people have already died at the city’s jail this year alone. More than half of the women and men detained there suffer from mental illness. Rikes must close.”
Lauren Velez, Metro Team Acting Director at Corporation for Supportive Housing, said: “CSH applauds New York City Council’s allocation of $6.4 million from discretionary funds to support Justice Involved Supportive Housing (JISH), and thus ensuring the City’s only supportive housing program dedicated to serving people coming out of incarceration receives the same services funding as other major NYC supportive housing programs. With this critical investment, the program is more likely than ever to reach its full potential in offering accessible housing and crucial support to New Yorkers returning to their communities. We look forward to DOHMH deploying this funding to NYC JISH providers. These units greatly increase the chances for persons with histories of homelessness and incarceration to achieve stability and break the cycle of going from incarceration to homelessness and back again by offering affordable housing and appropriate resource connections during critical transition periods and beyond. JISH is an essential community-investment and important piece of the #CloseRikers plan.”
Kevin “Renny” Smith, Executive Director of Families and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted, Inc., said: “We demand that the Mayor Adams administration invest in Care and not Criminalization. Spend money for programs in communities mostly affected by crime. Yesterday, closing Rikers Island was a talking point. Today, however, it is a reality.”
Flora Sugarman, Columbia School of Social Work Abolition Caucus, said: “Rikers is a disaster, and it must be shut down now. Far too many lives have been lost, and New Yorkers have had enough. We know too well that prisons are tools of state-sanctioned racialized violence and oppression. They do not keep communities safe. We demand that Rikers be closed, and until then, we must do everything in our power to mitigate the crisis and save lives.”
Janay (Jani Cauthen), Executive Director of Families for Freedom, said: “We stand united in the fight to shut down Rikers. Our voices will not be silenced until every individual is treated with dignity and respect.”
Charlotte Phillips, MD, Chair, Brooklyn For Peace, said: “On Oct.19, 2019, The New York City Council, responding to calls from abused formerly incarcerated survivors and concerns about the dilapidated conditions of the facilities, voted 36-13 to shut down Rikers Island prisons. That was five years ago! Matters at Rikers Island jails have only gotten worse…much worse! Mayor Adams has stubbornly refused to budge, digging his heels in to prevent its closure even though some 33 incarcerated people in city jails have already died under his watch. Brooklyn for Peace is joining Katal Center and many other community and advocacy groups in a call to shut down Rikers.”
Victor Pate, Survivor of Rikers Island and Co-Director of the #HALTsolitary Campaign, said: “Rikers Island continues to torture and kill people. It must be shut down immediately. City and state officials must release people, stop sending people to deadly jails, end solitary confinement, and protect the human rights of all New Yorkers.”
Mary Voorhees, Member of the Katal Center, said: “As someone who has been incarcerated at a state prison, I know firsthand the injustices that people behind bars face. It is inhumane to deny people access to medical care. It is inhumane to beat people up. It is inhumane to put people in solitary confinement. All of which are happening as we speak at Rikers. We cannot let this Mayor get away with neglecting the care of people who are detained at Rikers Island. There have been far too many lives lost already. As far as we know, since Mayor Adams took office, there have been at least 33 people who have died in city jails. Rikers Island is a hellhole and not fit for any human being. If Mayor Adams is unwilling to address the crisis at Rikers, then he must step Aside. The federal courts must intervene to address the crisis at Rikers and improve conditions.”
Corinne Worthington, the Surveillance Technology Research & Advocacy Manager atSurveillance Technology Oversight Project, said: “Rikers Island is in a state of crisis, with escalating violence and deteriorating medical care. Instead of addressing these worsening conditions in any meaningful way, Mayor Adams pushes technosolutions measures that automate corrections and help law enforcement on Rikers evade oversight. The federal courts must step in immediately and appoint a receiver to ensure the safety and health of New Yorkers incarcerated on Rikers, before more lives are lost.”
Tawana Atkins, Member of the Katal Center, said: “It is truly hard as a parent to go through the experience of having your child behind bars. Not being able to protect them and shield them from any harm is hard. My son, who was diagnosed with Schizophrenia, is being held at Rikers Island. Instead of being at Rikers, he should be home with me and receiving proper treatment. People should receive help from the very beginning, and they should not be sent to Rikers. Rikers does not know how to deal with people with mental illness because it is not a medical institution. Yet, Rikers has become the city’s largest mental health institution. This does not make sense! And to make matters worse, people detained at Rikers are being murdered. Since the Mayor took office, at least 33 people have died in city jails. My son, while incarcerated, has suffered severe injuries at the hands of correctional officers for simply asking for medical care when feeling ill. Instead of helping him, they decided to beat the hell out of my son. I fear for the livelihood of my kid every day that he is there. This is not right! Now more than ever, we need immediate action. The Mayor must Shut Down Rikers, but until then, the courts must appoint an independent receiver!”
Barbara Bierd, the Policy & Organizing Associate at the Center for Employment Opportunities: “The Center for Employment Opportunities continues to support the closure of Rikers. Over the years, New York City spent almost 3 times more per incarcerated person than the second most expensive jail system in the country. It’s time that the funding is redirected to address community needs such as advanced training opportunities, and meaningful employment reducing the flow of people into the system.”
Anna P., a Community Member from Lower Manhattan, said: “Mayor Adams continues to say that he follows the law, but he does not nor is he beholden to it. Laws passed by City Council in 2019, established that Rikers must close by 2027. However, Mayor Adams hasn’t done anything to shut down Rikers. Instead, he has done everything in his power to keep Rikers open. Under his administration, we are seeing more people being put in Rikers, and he continues to defy the #HaltSolitary law by putting people in solitary confinement. People detained at Rikers are at great risk of dying because of the horrible conditions. If the Mayor refuses to close Rikers, then he must step down or be held accountable for his harmful actions on the well-being of all New Yorkers.”
Jon Mermelstein, Member of the Katal Center, said: “As a teacher in Harlem, I see how Rikers affects our community daily. Rikers epitomizes the moral outrage of mass incarceration. These dehumanizing conditions don’t only affect those behind bars but all their loved ones as well. From the example that the state doesn’t value our humanity to the glaring absence of loved adults in many families, this cycle degrades our quality of life. A federal receivership is necessary as a basic first step to protect our dignity, but true justice requires shifting away from a carceral system of punishment to a restorative system that centers healing and human growth.”
Amy Herzberg, Member of the Katal Center, said: “There are far too many people detained at Rikers who have a mental illness, and they shouldn’t be there. People are constantly stereotyping me because of my mental health condition. They tend to treat me differently and this is of a deeper concern when you are having an interaction with law enforcement. We see so many horror situations where police officers or correctional officers, rather than de-escalating a situation where someone is in mental distress, they make things a lot worse. In some cases, it can cost the person’s life. This is not right. Additionally, there are so many New Yorkers who don’t have access to affordable housing. People are working two part-time jobs and still barely making ends meet. This leaves many in desperate situations. Mayor Adams must care for New Yorkers by investing in mental health and affordable housing. This is one way to ensure that Rikers Island is shut down once and for all!”
Loray Hodge, Harlem Community Member, said: “We have so many people across the nation who are being denied due process. There are people who are not being given proper sentencing. There are people still being put on death row. This is all deeply concerning and it is also happening locally in this city. In NYC, a vast majority of people being detained at Rikers are Black, Brown and Low-income New Yorkers, and they are all at risk of losing their lives. Like my son there are so many individuals who are struggling to get by while at Rikers. They are using drugs as a means to escape the violence and stress they experience there on a minute by minute basis. They are trying to survive the physical and mental harm they are enduring. What makes it even more infuriating is that so many of these folks get caught up in carceral system because our government failed to address the root problems existing in our communities. Additionally, they are failing to connect with family members to get a history of what is happening with the individual. There are folks who have traumas that could have been developed as a child that stunt them from growing and changing. In NYC, there is no denying that so many New Yorkers are homeless and need access to affordable housing. Yet we have a Mayor who is not prioritizing investments in housing. Additionally, so many folks have a substance abuse disorder but, rather than receiving treatment, are being put in jail/prison. This does not make any sense. This must end. Mayor Adams must shut down Rikers and invest in housing, healthcare, education, jobs & reentry services to help people returning home!”
Danielle Lynn Shanks-Efuntosin, member of the Katal Center, said: “It’s not stressed enough that mental health victims are not receiving the best medical treatment at Rikers Island jail. I have a son who was sent to Rikers, where he was exposed to horrific conditions for months when he should have been redirected to get the proper treatment he needed for his mental health. The NYC Department of Corrections does not have adequate accommodations to treat someone with a mental illness. It is not acceptable that Rikers is considered the largest mental health facility in NYC. That is shameful. I urge the mayor to Shut down Rikers and, until then, for the federal courts to intervene by appointing an independent receiver to improve conditions.
About the campaign: #ShutRikers is a campaign of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice. Katal and our allies are working to cut the number of people incarcerated 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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