Rikers Island Gets NYPD, Private Staff Help As Crisis Spirals

NEW YORK CITY — An influx of NYPD officers, private staffing and city health workers are heading to Rikers Island as officials try to grapple with deteriorating conditions at the notorious jail.

"Non-stop" recent calls and meetings over Rikers yielded new intake spaces for inmates, two clinics and an additional housing unit, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

The temporary, new spaces and staff aim to alleviate the overcrowded conditions, days-long waits for intake and staffing shortfalls that have plagued the jail.

"Everyone must go through intake in less than 24 hours," de Blasio said. "The faster, the better, but certainly less than 24 hours."

Rikers has well-earned its notorious reputation over the decades. But the coronavirus pandemic appears to have exacerbated — or, perhaps, highlighted — the long-horrible conditions at the jail.

Eleven incarcerated people have died there in the past year.

The Legal Aid Society, among other recent actions, this week filed a letter in federal court asking judges to take action such as inmate releases or intake limits to help stem the crisis.

The letter paints a grim picture of conditions inside the jail using documents and words from the Department of Correction's own employees.

One doctor wrote “in 2021, we have witnessed a collapse in basic jail operations, such that today I do not believe the city is capable of safely managing the custody of those it is charged with incarcerating in its jails, nor maintaining the safety of those who work there.”

At another point, the letter details a recent visit by elected officials.

"When elected officials conducted an emergency tour of several DOC facilities on September 13,
2021, they reported observing people confined in spaces covered in excrement, garbage,
cockroaches, and rotting food," the letter states. "One state senator reported witnessing an attempted suicide. Some legislators described 'dozens of people without masks packed into cells with overflowing toilets, unable to see their lawyers because they have yet to be booked,' and units in which 'people were being held in showers and relieving themselves in plastic bags.'"

About 70 housing units are unstaffed, nearly 1,800 officers were "out sick" one day last week and the jail's facilities are at capacity, the letter states.

Legal Aid attorneys sent the letter after de Blasio last week outlined emergency steps to improve conditions and Gov. Kathy Hochul facilitated the release or transfer of roughly 400 inmates.

De Blasio on Tuesday also continued to blame the corrections officer union for mass absenteeism, a claim its leadership strongly denied.

Related story:

• City Sues Corrections Officers Union It Blames For Rikers Crisis