Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
“We Need Action”: Elected Officials Tour Rikers Island Demanding Decarceration
By
George Joseph
Published Sep 13, 2021
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
George Joseph
Published Sep 13, 2021
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
A dozen elected officials visited Rikers Island on Monday in a bid to pressure authorities to reduce the city’s ballooning jail population. The appearance, which Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office reportedly tried to delay, follows new reporting by WNYC/Gothamist and The City that’s revealed rising rates of self-harm and multiple deaths at the troubled facility in recent months.
At a press conference following a tour of the island, several state leaders expressed disgust at the city’s treatment of incarcerated residents and jail staff.
“What we saw today was horrific,” said Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani. The representative described speaking to a detainee who said he’d been stuck in an intake area for seven days without access to a bed or toilet. “He told me of how many incarcerated people were in that same situation: forced to relieve themselves in the very room they were supposed to sleep in,” he said
“Trash all over the floors, broken doors to the cells,” said Alessandra Biaggi, a state senator representing the Bronx and Westchester. “We wonder why corrections officers don’t want to come to work. It is unsafe inside of Rikers Island. It is unsafe for everybody inside of Rikers Island.”
Since the beginning of this year, advocates have argued the jail complex is incapable of providing detainees with basic services due to a spike in the number of corrections officers calling out sick or skipping work.
In the face of this staffing crisis, the Democratic lawmakers have called on the mayor, Governor Kathy Hochul, and the courts to release more incarcerated people as a way to decrease the number of detainees per staff member. Their demand stands in contrast to that of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, which has waged a public campaign pushing the city to hire more jail guards.
“Decarceration must happen and it must happen now,” said Phara Souffrant Forrest, a Brooklyn assembly member, who is sponsoring the Less Is More Act. The legislation would keep people from being sent to jail for alleged technical parole violations, such as missed curfews or marijuana use.
Last week, Governor Hochul said she would consider the bill, but noted she had many other pieces of legislation to consider. At the rally, Biaggi criticized this response.
“It’s something that can be signed as early as today,” Biaggi said. “To make excuses that there are hundreds of bills on [the] desk of a new governor is just that, it’s an excuse.”
In response, the governor's press secretary, Hazel Crampton-Hays, said "Governor Hochul is deeply concerned about the situation in city jails" and is "exploring options, including reviewing legislation, to keep New Yorkers safe."
The group of lawmakers also called on the mayor to grant work release to those serving sentences in city jails, and for prosecutors and judges to send fewer defendants into pre-trial detention. De Blasio himself hasn’t visited Rikers Island since before he won re-election four years ago.
Jessica Ramos, a state senator from Queens who also toured Rikers on Monday, said she witnessed floors littered with dead cockroaches, fecal matter, and rotting food, and she argued the crowded conditions and dysfunction could worsen crime.
“Starvation, torture, violence, not getting medical treatment for their physical and mental health is not a recipe to rehabilitation,” she said. “That is not a recipe for safety. It is a recipe for violence, and for continued violence out on our streets.”
State figures show the city’s jail population has steadily grown over the past year, even as reports of violence and self-harm have continued to spark rising concerns among activists, detainees, and their families.
This article was updated to include a response from Governor Hochul's office.
Tagged
rikers death
new york city
Rikers Island
rikers guards
Governor Kathy Hochul
de Blasio
prison reform
George Joseph
George covers Brooklyn for THE CITY with a focus on criminal justice and housing. He previously worked for WNYC and Gothamist, and has published stories with NPR, ProPublica, Esquire, and The Intercept among other outlets.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
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 .