Rikers detainees missed over a third of medical appointments last year, BOC says

Rikers detainees missed over a third of medical appointments last year, BOC says

Over one-third of all detainees on Rikers Island who requested a trip to the doctor last year were never taken to their scheduled appointment, a new report from the Department of Correction’s watchdog says.

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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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Mayor suspends solitary confinement ban

Mayor suspends solitary confinement ban

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again. That’s the platitude Mayor Eric Adams has appeared to employ in his attempts to skirt around a new law banning solitary confinement in the city’s jails.

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With Rikers in crisis, power struggle within jail watchdog board overshadows oversight efforts

With Rikers in crisis, power struggle within jail watchdog board overshadows oversight efforts

The Board of Correction on Tuesday spent around an hour of its meeting engaged in an internal power struggle instead of discussing the top item on its agenda – the crisis regarding the city’s stalled plan to close Rikers Island by 2027.

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Rikers receivership case sluggishly moves forward

Rikers receivership case sluggishly moves forward

For the first time in nearly seven months, the city’s Department of Correction on Tuesday appeared before the federal judge currently considering whether or not the city should be stripped of its control of Rikers Island, the troubled jail complex that has seen over two dozen deaths in the past two years.

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Family of man who died after Rikers Island detention sues city for $100 million

Family of man who died after Rikers Island detention sues city for $100 million

The family of a 31-year-old man whose death in Department of Correction custody remains disputed over a year after it happened recently filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

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‘Dysfunction remains the reality’: Legal Aid makes final arguments for federal takeover of Rikers

‘Dysfunction remains the reality’: Legal Aid makes final arguments for federal takeover of Rikers

Despite the city’s instance that if given more time it can turn around its troubled jail complex on Rikers Island, the Legal Aid Society said in a Thursday court filing that enough was enough, and reiterated its call for a federal judge to strip control of the jail from the city and hand it over to a court-appointed authority.

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Jail programming suffers a year after DOC cut nonprofit contract

Jail programming suffers a year after DOC cut nonprofit contract

The city’s Department of Correction has continued to struggle to provide re-entry services, educational programs, life skills training and other programs to detainees on Rikers Island a year after the agency cut a contract with half a dozen nonprofits and opted to provide the programming themselves.

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‘A little perplexed’: Questions raised over city’s $4 billion contract for construction of Queens jail

‘A little perplexed’: Questions raised over city’s $4 billion contract for construction of Queens jail

Advocates and a lawmaker on Thursday spoke out against the city’s proposed $4 billion contract for the building of Queens’ borough-based jail, which may be completed four years after the city’s legally-mandated deadline to close Rikers Island.

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Four billion dollars and four years late: Queens jail is over budget and behind schedule

Four billion dollars and four years late: Queens jail is over budget and behind schedule

Queens’ borough-based jail set to be built in Kew Gardens will cost taxpayers at least $4 billion and may be completed four years after the city’s legally-mandated deadline to close Rikers Island, city records show.

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