Shut it, Blaz!
Feudin’ gov demands Rikers close immediately
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo’s office says this week’s indictment of 29 former and current Rikers Island inmates on assault charges is proof the jail should be closed immediately — not in 10 years, as Mayor de Blasio proposed.
In another escalation of the feud between the governor and de Blasio, Cuomo administration Counsel Alphonso David issued a statement Thursday that described Rikers as a “savage and inhumane jail” and derided the city’s insistence on a prolonged process of closure.
“Saying it will take 10 years is tantamount to saying we have no real plan to close it,” David said, taking a clear shot at de Blasio.
David said the 10-year timeframe ignores the urgency of the situation and the city needs to “step up to the plate with a real plan” to close Rikers. “Ten years condemns thousands more young people to be abused by Rikers,” he said. “We need action now.”
De Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips blasted David’s statement as “political theater” and said Cuomo shares some of the blame for conditions at Rikers.
“As attorney general, Andrew Cuomo was silent on Rikers Island,” Phillips said. “As governor, Andrew Cuomo leads a state prison system marred by abuse, neglect and escapes. He runs a state court system responsible for many inmates being on Rikers Island too long. His newfound concern is welcome, but unless the governor is willing to reform his own embattled state prison system and court system, it’s impossible to see his outburst as anything but political theatre.”
De Blasio has previously argued that 10 years is a reasonable timetable for closing the mammoth facility and relocating its inmates.
Responding to Phillips, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said “the governor has closed 24 prisons and passed landmark criminal justice reform. The city has kicked the can down the road on Rikers.”
David’s statement was sparked by the charges brought Wednesday by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office against 29 reputed gang members, including several still locked up at Rikers, for assaults against fellow inmates and staff at the jail.
On Thursday, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark also indicted Rikers inmate Naquan Hill, 24, on escape charges for his July attempt to flee the jail. Two other inmates — Robert Sasso, 35, and David Vaz, 33 — were charged with assisting in his escape.
Prosecutors charged that Sasso and Vaz distracted two correction officers and cleared the way for Hill to climb over a perimeter fence and escape. After a nearly eight-hour search, Hill was spotted as he made a break for the water and was recaptured.