Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Mayor Adams cuts classes and re-entry services at Rikers to save $17 million in NYC budget
By
Matt Katz
Published May 16, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Matt Katz
Published May 16, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The Adams administration is eliminating programs that help detainees get jobs, find housing, stay off drugs, and reconnect with loved ones once they’re released from Rikers Island in order to save $17 million in next year’s budget.
“We were blindsided and in shock,” said Ronald Day, vice president of programs at the Fortune Society, one of five nonprofit agencies informed on Monday that their contracts, due to expire next year, were suddenly nixed.
The canceled classes cover training in carpentry and plumbing skills, financial literacy, cognitive behavioral therapy, drug relapse prevention and anger management. The last day of class will be June 30. Dozens of full-time employees who worked daily in the jails, including the formerly incarcerated, will lose their positions.
There is no way that DOC is going to be able to deliver the services at the rate and at the capacity and with the quality that the providers have been doing for years. That is a complete pipe dream to think that is possible.
Ronald Day, vice president of programs at the Fortune Society
Some of the programs operated in various forms at Rikers and the floating jail in the East River for decades. The agencies’ contracts together make up just 1.4% of the Department of Correction’s $1.2 billion budget, but the cuts were ordered by Mayor Eric Adams who has tasked city agencies with eliminating 4% in spending.
“The department will assume the responsibilities previously carried out by contracted providers and continues to offer dozens of additional programs to people in custody, including educational programming, fine/performing arts, and other enrichment activities,” said Frank Dwyer, the department’s deputy commissioner of public information, in a statement.
But Day said the Department of Correction cannot replicate the programs, which helped reduce violence and idleness in the jails..
“There is no way that DOC is going to be able to deliver the services at the rate and at the capacity and with the quality that the providers have been doing for years,” he said. “That is a complete pipe dream to think that is possible.”
It is unclear how the department will replace the reentry services that the agencies provided. Day said they were intended to “increase the chances that people can be successful once they make the transition from the jail to the community.”
Challenges of recidivism
Recidivism remains a persistent political and policy challenge in the city, with the Adams administration often blaming repeat offenders for crime increases. Jordan Neely, who was killed on the subway earlier this month during an encounter with another commuter, Daniel Penny, had recently been released from Rikers. He was allegedly acting erratically on the train prior to Penny placing him in a deadly chokehold.
“A lot of individuals who have mental health and substance abuse issues — where do they end up? They end up in our city jails,” Day said.
Thousands of detainees who attended the classes will be “devastated” to learn that the programs – and their facilitators – will be gone from Rikers, according to Archana Jayaram, CEO of the Osborne Association, which had its $2.5 million contract canceled.
“We find that participants engaged very deeply in the conversations – we’re talking about their family relationships, talking about past harms, talking about things they feel guilty about,” she said. “It’s a really vulnerable set of conversations.”
The programs also give detainees a link to the outside, as those released later connect with the Osborne Association for job placement, housing assistance, substance abuse counseling and free MetroCards, Jayaram said.
Still, attendance at the 90-minute classes, which is voluntary, has just been about 30%, according to the Department of Correction.
Jayaram said attendance numbers are affected by the fact they’re conducted in loud communal areas with regular lockdowns and interruptions.
“And the engagement we see is quite powerful despite those dynamics,” she added.
Other budget reductions planned at the Department of Correction include $30 million in salaries and benefits, due to vacant positions. The City Council must approve the next fiscal year's budget by June 30.
Tagged
department of correction
new york city
Rikers Island
public safety
recidivism
crime and punishment
Race And Justice Unit
Matt Katz
Matt Katz is a former WNYC & Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
Published Oct 17, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .