Mayor defends his record on Rikers as federal takeover looms

Mayor defends his record on Rikers as federal takeover looms

Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday defended his administration’s efforts to quell violence and disorder on Rikers Island, a little less than a week after a federal judge said she was leaning toward taking the jail complex out of the city’s hands for its failure to keep detainees safe.

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Mayor makes vague pitch to turn borough-based jail into mental health treatment facility

Mayor makes vague pitch to turn borough-based jail into mental health treatment facility

Mayor Eric Adams pitched a vague plan to turn one of the city’s proposed – and extremely delayed – borough-based jail facilities into a mental health treatment jail, confusing advocates and lawmakers who say the mayor has thus far resisted calls to support treatment facilities and programs for detainees.

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Monitor says Rikers remains dangerous as judge mulls federal takeover

Monitor says Rikers remains dangerous as judge mulls federal takeover

As a potential federal takeover of Rikers Island looms over the city, a court-appointed monitor said in a highly anticipated report that violence and dysfunction has continued to plague the jail complex and the agency that runs it over much of the past year.

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DOC boss denies knowing about Rikers’ ‘worst-kept secret’

DOC boss denies knowing about Rikers’ ‘worst-kept secret’

The head of the city’s Department of Correction had little to say when asked about allegations that officers regularly lock up detainees with mental health issues for days or weeks at a time in solitary confinement, blocking their access to medication and attention from doctors.

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The city has three years to close Rikers – can it be done?

The city has three years to close Rikers – can it be done?

As the three-year countdown to the closure of the jails on Rikers Island begins this week, major questions remain about whether or not the city will – or even can – meet the August 2027 deadline to shutter the notorious complex.

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‘Insult on top of injury’: Attys claim DOC falsified records about Rikers detainee’s death

‘Insult on top of injury’: Attys claim DOC falsified records about Rikers detainee’s death

A new filing in a wrongful death lawsuit claims that the city’s Department of Correction falsely claimed in records that they acted quickly to provide Narcan to a 26-year-old dying of an overdose on Rikers Island in 2022 when instead it was the man’s brother, coincidently being held in the cell next door, who attempted to revive his sibling just before he died.

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Council prepares take Adams admin to court over solitary ban

Council prepares take Adams admin to court over solitary ban

The fight over a law banning solitary confinement in the city’s jails continued on Thursday when the City Council opened the door to taking legal action against the Adams administration, which asked a judge last month to allow them to skirt the law’s implementation.

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