Commission to create new plan to close Rikers
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Officials announced on Friday that the Independent Rikers Commission would be brought back to craft a new plan to close Rikers. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
By Ryan Schwach
In August, Mayor Eric Adams called for a new proposal to close Rikers Island while reiterating his opposition to the current plan. It seems less than two months later he has got his wish.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced on Friday that she would be bringing back the Independent Rikers Commission – which laid out the initial plan to close Rikers – to craft a new plan to close the infamous city jail as the administration lags behind its scheduled August 2027 deadline to shutter Rikers’ gates.
“I’m proud to reappoint a renewed Independent Rikers Commission that will bring stakeholders together towards getting the plan to close Rikers back on course and helping ensure it finally closes,” Speaker Adams said in a statement on Friday. “It is clear that Rikers is not serving New Yorkers and continues to undermine public safety in our city.”
While the commission will aim to keep with the legally mandated 2027 deadline, they do not commit to keeping it, citing changes to the city landscape since the deadline was set in 2019, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Independent Commission, formally known as the Lippman Commission for its chair, former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, was created in 2016 by former Council
Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and laid out the initial plans to close Rikers Island, setting the framework for the legally mandated August 2027 deadline to close Rikers, as well as the plan to replace it with four borough-based jails.
Now, amid the mayor’s opposition to the previous plan, his administration’s sluggishness in keeping up with a pace that would see the city meet its deadline and the jail’s rapidly declining reputation, the commission will set out to form a new proposal.
In August, while speaking at an event hosted by the New York Law School, Mayor Adams criticized the previous schedule, calling it “flawed from the beginning.”
“We must sit down with the City Council and lay out the facts – ‘This is what is going to cost, here's how we could do this, you are partners, let's resolve this issue,’” said Adams, who has often times been at odds with the council, and Speaker Adams, on plans to close Rikers since he took office.
Now, it seems like he will get the “plan B” that he called for in August.
In a statement, Mayor Adams expressed his support for the commission’s work and a Rikers closure plan that “ensures the dignity, safety, and care for all justice-involved New Yorkers,” but made it clear that they believe the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected the timeline.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had wide-ranging impacts on the criminal justice system and jail system in New York City — disrupting court operations, increasing the time to trial, and extending the length of stay for persons in custody — all of which has led to a substantial increase in the jail population on Rikers Island,” he said. “The pandemic also caused significant issues and delays with the previous administration’s plans to issue requests for proposals and implement the design-phase of the borough-based jails plan, as well as brought construction projects to a halt while causing costs to skyrocket. Our administration’s commitment to the success of our jail system is unwavering, but we also have taken stock of the reality of how this once-in-a-generation pandemic impacted the original timeline for the implementation of the borough-based jail plan.”
“The answer is not to ignore reality or compromise public safety, but to work together to find solutions,” he added.
He also said he applauds the commission for “recognizing the need to reassess the current plan and offering to help develop new recommendations.”
According to the release, the commission’s goal is to “lay out a refreshed blueprint of proven policies to help ensure the closure of Rikers, in the context of the changed realities of a post-COVID New York City and the law mandating closure by 2027.”
Lippman will continue as chair of the commission, which currently has 26 members, with potentially new members to come later on, according to the commission.
“Rikers has to close as soon as possible,” Lippman said in a statement. “The jails there hurt public safety and endanger the lives of everyone inside their walls. They are a stain on the soul of our city. We have a generational opportunity to do far better, and the outlines of how to do so already exist.”
This new venture will not be without its challenges.
In recent years, poor conditions at Rikers and numerous deaths among inmates have brought the island closer to federal receivership, the jail’s population has increased according to the city’s own data and the process to construct the new borough-based jails is behind schedule.
Currently, only one of the four planned borough-based jails – the one in Brooklyn – is in its contracting process, and has a completion date set for 2029, two years after the deadline to close Rikers.
City Council Speaker ADrienne Adams announced the re-appointment of the commission, initially created by one of her predecessors. Credit John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
In its announcement, the commission said that “all options to accelerate construction and ensure the system meets the needs of the incarcerated population must be considered.”
With very little of the plans for the borough-based jails set in stone, including the total number of detainees per jail, that could suggest the commission could greatly alter the current plan. However, it seems officials are maintaining their hopes for the 2027 deadline.
“Our commitment to meeting the legal mandate must be steadfast and will require the participation of all levels of government and parties involved in the criminal justice system,” Speaker Adams said.
Along with the announcement on Friday, the commission listed out issues it will have to address, including the mental illness population on Rikers and the higher than average length of criminal trials in New York City.
The commission will be continued to chaired by former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman. Screenshot from the Independent Rikers Commission
“Steps like safe, smart reductions in the jail population, focused on people with serious mental illness and actually giving people speedy trials. Accelerated construction of borough-based jails and secure hospital beds. A new vision for corrections,” said Lippman. “At the same time, the goal of Commission 2.0 is to take a renewed and realistic look at current on-the-ground conditions and find a safe, clear path to swiftly close Rikers.”
So far the re-appointment of the Commission has garnered support from Councilmember Carlina Rivera, chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice.
“Advocates, justice-impacted people, and the families of those who have died on Rikers all know the time is now to move the city forward to meet our legal requirement to open borough-based jails and close Rikers by 2027,” she said in a statement. “Reducing the population is urgent, and we need as many voices as possible at the table to reiterate how important alternatives to incarceration, reentry services, and streamlined case processing are to our timeline. The revival of the Lippman Commission is critical to support the administration and state agencies in meeting this moral and legal mandate.”
Other councilmembers and the Legal Aid Society did not return the Eagle’s request for comment.
