NYC Closes Another Rikers Jail

NEW YORK, NY— New York City permanently closed another jail on Rikers Island and transferred three former correctional facilities out of the Department of Correction.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the permanent closure of the North Infirmary Command, a jail that opened in 1932, while jurisdiction over the facility shifted to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

The City also transferred large portions of the George Motchan Detention Center and the Anna M. Kross Center to DCAS.

Neither facility currently houses people in custody.

The transfers mark another milestone in the City's effort to close the Rikers Island jail complex and replace it with a borough-based jail system.

"For decades, Rikers Island has represented one of the deepest failures of our City government," Mamdani said. "It has failed people in custody, correction officers and every New Yorker who believes our justice system should live up to its name."

The closure became possible after the City opened a 104-bed Outposted Therapeutic Housing Unit at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue in April.

The unit replaced the medical services once provided at the North Infirmary Command and gives incarcerated patients direct access to specialty medical care.

City officials plan to open two additional therapeutic housing units.

The Anna M. Kross Center, once the largest jail on Rikers Island, stopped housing incarcerated people in 2023, although its main kitchen remains in operation.

The George Motchan Detention Center has not housed incarcerated people since 2018 and now serves as a Department of Correction training annex and correction officer wellness center.

The City transferred the James A. Thomas Center and several unused parcels on Rikers Island to DCAS in 2021.

Officials said the latest transfers will allow planning to move forward for future public uses of the island, including infrastructure and other city projects after the jail complex closes.