Posted on: May 13, 2025 02:45 PM

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Not even half a billion is working at Rikers Island

Today a federal ruling is made that Rikers Island will be placed under the control of an independent receiver. This means, the receiver will be allowed to change the Dept of Correction politics, discipline officers, hire and fire staff as well as renegotiate with union delegates. It will no longer be under NY control.

The NYC budget per inmate is more than $500,000 per year. A number once stood at $37,000 per year after prison transfer to out of state from convictions. Compared to before, more vouchers, programs, vendors servicing food and medical care are all at higher than the market rate making the cycle a difficult route to operate efficiently. The biggest budget winners are crime prevention programs which have resulted below 5% despite the ongoing violations of rights of inmates inside the prison denied by the city. Local residents blame the City Council, Assembly and Senate members for dreaming of closing Rikers Island to build mini-jails in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. Many local elected officials demanded the small jails not near their constituents but somewhere else which also sparked outrage all around.

This was the judge's statement,

The Court’s findings and appointment of a remediation manager are a welcomed and much needed milestone. Rikers is not working, for its over 7,000 people in custody, the correction officers and staff who work there, or the people of New York. The Constitutional rights of people in custody are not being protected. The Court’s order provides the manager with broad authority, requires consultation and cooperation between the manager and the Commissioner of the Department of Correction, and, importantly, requires the development of a benchmarked plan for improvement and returning authority to the City. The women and men of the Southern District stand ready to work with the Court Monitor, the new manager, and the Commissioner to finally achieve sustainable and lasting reform of the City’s jail system.