Mayor names panel to retool Rikers after feds threaten takeover of jails
Facing the threat of a federal takeover of Rikers Island, Mayor Adams signed an executive order Thursday forming a commission to tackle the daunting task of overhauling Rikers Island.
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks and the mayor’s top lawyer, Brendan McGuire, will lead the task force, Adams said, which will also include reps and labor relations, budget, contracting and construction agencies.
The mandate is to move quickly to put in place changes to deal with the disorder and poor conditions that have plagued the jail system. It comes five days before Correction Commissioner Louis Molina is slated to release his own plan ahead of a key Manhattan Federal Court hearing in the class action case that has resulted in a court-appointed monitor overseeing Rikers Island. Frustrated with the lack of progress since the monitor’s appointment six years ago, the feds have floated the possibility of a receiver taking over the jails. Such a move would wrest control of the city correctional system from Adams.
“Rikers Island has been mired in dysfunction and plagued by parallel crises for decades. We cannot — and will not — allow that to continue,”
Adams said in a statement. “This interagency task force puts the full weight of city government behind fully and immediately addressing these challenges.”
Adams said uses of force and assaults on staff are down, while searches are up. He also noted to uniformed staff, “I have your back.” The statement did not mention the 5,446 people in custody as of Wednesday, with 1,339 of those held pretrial for more than a year.
McGuire said the panel will be “laser-focused cutting through red tape.” Banks said one of the problems has been lack of coordination among agencies.
“Dysfunctional government and agencies operating within silos is an unacceptable excuse for the dangerous conditions that have persisted on Rikers for years,” Banks said.
Some questioned the introduction of yet another layer of oversight into an alphabet soup of institutions already involved in the jails. On Saturday, detainee Dashawn Carter, 25, hanged himself in a Rikers lockup — the fourth death in city custody this year.
On April 19, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams sent a letter to the court threatening a receivership that could sweep away city policies, labor agreements and legal barriers unless swift action is taken to regain control at Rikers.