Mayor has a ‘captive’ audience

An inmate at Rikers Island was able to complain directly to the mayor about conditions there Friday — by calling in to Hizzoner’s weekly radio appearance.

“Looks like we are getting a phone call from somebody who is in Rikers Island,” WNYC host Brian Lehrer said before introducing a caller who gave his name as Winston.

Winston — who noted he had “a little bit of a time limit here” — said he wanted to ask Mayor de Blasio about the legal minimum standards for inmates on Rikers Island.

“First, here on the island, a lot of the clothes are not available. There are some guys who are walking around in you know, size 13 shoes, looking like a clown because they don’t have the right size,” he said.

People often don’t get towels for weeks, meaning they can’t shower. And Winston said his housing unit was over capacity by 12%.

“I have been putting in grievances to find administrative solutions for this, but why aren’t our minimum standards being met?” he asked, adding he’d also like to know about the oversight of city jails.

The mayor — who will be spending the weekend in Iowa, home of the first presidential caucus, as he mulls a 2020 run — said he wanted to figure out a way to keep in touch with Winston going forward to address his concerns.

“There are multiple forms of oversight. There is the Board of Corrections, which is an independent board, named by a variety of different stakeholders, that does close oversight,” de Blasio said.

But he didn’t mention that his own Law Department has recently watered down the board’s oversight — issuing an opinion that the board’s approval wasn’t necessary to allow Correctional Health Services staff to share an inmate’s diagnosis with the correction department. Board members have protested — saying the ruling ignores the meaning of the city’s minimum standards law.

Hizzoner said he was worried about the conditions Winston cited.