Rikers Island Woes Prompt Mayor To Take Emergency Action

NEW YORK CITY — A slew of escalating crises at Rikers Island and increasing political pressure prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio to take action on the troubled jail.

"We’re going to use emergency orders to make some very intense changes in the situation," he said Tuesday.

De Blasio outlined a five step "Emergency Rikers Relief Plan" during his daily briefing. The plan calls for emergency contracting to make quick fixes at the jail, speeding up the intake process and a crackdown on AWOL Department of Corrections staff.

Conditions at Rikers have been notoriously poor for decades, but they've worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, as detailed in recent spate of stories by the New York Daily News.

At least 10 inmates have died since December, parts of the jail have gone unstaffed for more than 24 hours at a time and inmates in intake cells went without beds for five days, the Daily News reported. Lawmakers and advocates concerned about the jail's conditions recently toured the facility, during which time an inmate attempted suicide, the New York Post reported.

De Blasio acknowledged the woes and largely pinned blame on the facility itself.

“Everything goes back to the problem of Rikers Island itself,” he said. “We need to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.”

But de Blasio noted actions to alleviate the stress at the jail would require reopening parts of it. He said two previously closed clinic spaces will be opened to speed up intake.

Corrections officers who skip work — a persistent problem in the pandemic — face severe punishments, he said.

“Any staff member who is AWOL will be held accountable with a 30-day suspension without pay,” he said.

The plan received a negative early reaction from Tina Luongo, the Legal Aid Society's attorney-in-charge of Criminal Defense Practice.

“It is simply unconscionable and unworkable that significant and immediate steps to decarcerate Rikers Island and other local jails are not a fundamental part of this plan," she said in a statement. "Fixing this multi-layered crisis will take time - time that people whose lives are in jeopardy from dangerous and uncontrolled conditions do not have. Through Mayor de Blasio’s own plan - The Early Release (6A) Program - City Hall could immediately release more than 250 people serving less than a year for low-level crimes, requiring them to serve the remainder of their short sentences on work-release. We call on Mayor de Blasio to utilize this program at once.”