Mayor Mamdani has ordered city corrections officials to come up with a plan to bring NYC jails into compliance with a law that banned solitary confinement on Rikers Island that had sparked strong pushback from his predecessor.
As Mayor Adams did during his term, Mamdani Monday extended Rikers’ emergency status, allowing the jail complex to be exempt from various local laws.
But, in doing so, Mamdani signaled a sharp shift, directing his agencies to come up with a plan within 45 days to bring Rikers into compliance with the solitary confinement ban adopted by the Council in late 2023 and with a set of other minimum standards set by the Board of Correction.
“What we are … looking to do is to bring an end to the era where city government would simply extend something every five days without any plan of what compliance can look like,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani also directed his agencies to work with the court-ordered federal jails monitor to ban solitary confinement.
Adams had fought the limits on solitary passed by the council.
He vetoed the Council’s solitary confinement bill, then challenged the law itself in court after the Council overrode his veto. He then leaned on the emergency declaration to skirt compliance with the ban, arguing it would put both inmates and DOC guards at risk.
“The previous administration’s refusal to meet their legal obligations on Rikers has left us with troubling conditions that will take time to resolve,” Mamdani said in a statement announcing the emergency executive order.
Amid the changes at Rikers, Mamdani has yet to appoint a commissioner for the Department of Corrections. Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, Adams’ handpicked DOC commisisoner, is continuing to lead the department.
As part of a long-winded court case related to conditions on Rikers, Manhattan Federal Judge Laura Swain has ordered that a receiver — who would oversee the DOC commissioner — should take over control of the notoriously dangerous jail complex. But she has yet to appoint that receiver.
On Tuesday, Mamdani declined to share any updates on whether he plans to hire a new commissioner, saying he would “be sure to share” any new personnel.
AP
FILE – The Rikers Island jail complex in New York with the Manhattan skyline in the background. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Mamdani issued the emergency oder for 45 days, but didn’t commit to ending the emergency status after that time is up.
“As soon as we have the plan to actually get into compliance,” the mayor said of when he’ll stop renewing the controversial executive order. “We have to do the work to get into compliance.”
The emergency status started under Mayor de Blasio, but Adams renewed the emergency order every five days throughout his tenure.
Rikers is legally mandated to close by 2027, but the jail population has continued to rise and construction on the borough-based jails intended to replace it have stalled. On the campaign trail, Mamdani slammed the deteriorated conditions at Rikers and pledged to close the complex, but didn’t provide many details as to how he’d manage it.
