State May Speed Up New York City’s Timeline to Shut Rikers

NEW YORK — A state commission that oversees New York City’s jail system may move to close the troubled complex at Rikers Island before the city’s 10-year timeline to do so, citing the city’s inability to correct long-standing problems there.

The Commission of Correction found that despite increased scrutiny from state and federal investigators in recent years, violent incidents have risen from 2016 to 2017, according to a report it released Wednesday.

“Given the city’s inaction and protracted 10-year proposal, it is now time for the commission to examine steps to expeditiously close Rikers and to ensure that the constitutional rights of inmates and staff are protected,” the 70-page report said.

The release of the report by the governor's office came just two hours before Mayor Bill de Blasio held a news conference to announce plans to build a new jail in the Bronx, as well as retrofit three other facilities in other boroughs, as part of a strategy to eventually vacate Rikers Island.

The report, which was delivered to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature on Wednesday, was the latest example of the strange intraparty tug of war between Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, New York City’s mayor. The two Democrats largely agree on policy issues but nonetheless fight over nearly every detail — especially the matter of who lays claim to owning the issue.

Cuomo’s chief counsel, Alphonso David, said that a “fair, safe and humane criminal justice system is essential for our state, and we will make it happen.”

He noted that the city’s plan to close Rikers within 10 years was not legally binding. In a statement, David added that the plan was “wholly unacceptable and repugnant to federal and state constitutional principles.”

Rikers has garnered national attention for its brutality, spawned federal investigations and become a lightning rod for protests.

State officials said the Commission of Correction could issue a citation to New York City for failure to correct violations, and then hold a public hearing. If the city failed to provide evidence that it could bring Rikers into compliance, the state would have the option of moving to close the complex.

In preparing the report, the Commission of Correction conducted site visits and interviews at scores of county jails across the state, focusing on inmate deaths and physical conditions. It labeled Rikers one of the five “worst offenders,” joining jails or penitentiaries in Greene, Erie, Dutchess and Onondaga counties.

Last March, de Blasio pledged to close Rikers in 10 years, embracing a report prepared by an independent commission empaneled by Melissa Mark-Viverito, then the City Council speaker. The report called on the city to replace the jails on Rikers with a network of smaller jails elsewhere in the city. Cuomo had forcefully urged the closing of Rikers even before that.

In his news conference Wednesday, the mayor reiterated that he wanted to close Rikers as soon as possible, but said that absent any criminal justice reforms in Albany this spring — in areas such as bail, parole and speedy trials that would help reduce the jail population — the most realistic time frame remained 10 years.

“Why doesn’t Albany step up and actually help rather than just criticizing,” de Blasio said. “If they actually want to help, there are lots of ways they can help. If they want to make noise, they can make noise. If the governor and the Legislature want to help us close Rikers more quickly, they have the power to do so. And if they don’t, then it’s on them that it’s going to take longer.”

In a statement, David said that the city had the power and duty to close Rikers independent of changes in Albany. “Building new jails is not that complicated if the city actually wanted to get it done,” he said.

Cuomo has put forward a package of criminal justice reforms as part of this year’s state agenda. Among other things, he would revamp the bail system, ensure access to a speedy trial and launch programs to help released inmates make the transition from prison to the community.

Last year, the governor and state lawmakers raised the age of criminal responsibility. And according to his office, Cuomo has closed 24 prisons and juvenile detention centers, pushing down the prison population by more than 6,000.

The state prison system, which is directly under the governor’s control, has itself come under fire in recent years for systemic abuses, specifically a pattern of assaults by guards against inmates and a scourge of racism on the part of correction officers. But Rikers, according to the Commission of Correction, remains a particular blight on New York’s criminal justice system.

The report highlighted “significant incidents,” including deaths, escapes, fires and group actions, noting that in almost every category, there were more incidents at Rikers Island facilities than at all the county jails, even though the average daily inmate population for Rikers was half that of all county jails in the state combined.

Gang and individual assaults involving inmates at Rikers were more than double the corresponding totals at the county jails, and attacks between inmates and personnel were 10 times more frequent. And many categories of serious incidents rose from 2016 to 2017, including fires (up 200 percent) and gang assaults (up 160 percent). The report also focused on deficiencies across categories ranging from security and supervision to discipline and visitation, exposing “conditions that are unsecure, unsanitary and dangerous, for staff and inmates alike.”

Investigators found broken pieces of metal and glass, as well as holes and divots, in the exercise yards at the Anna M. Kross Center, a 40-acre unit at Rikers that houses male detainees. At the Robert N. Davoren Complex, another male detention unit, they found that prisoners requiring constant observation were being supervised by officers of the opposite gender, while inmates were able to “pop open” secured cell doors.

And across the complex, there were instances of unmanned security posts, poor record-keeping, papered-over security cameras, rodent infestation, water leaks, sagging floors and expired fire extinguishers. Even the basic requirements for laundry services were not being met, with inmates washing their personal clothes in buckets in their cells and hanging them to dry, obscuring sight lines of correction officers.

Jonathan Lippman, the former chief judge of the state’s highest court who is chairman of the independent commission on Rikers, also spoke at the mayor’s news conference, cautioning against a tit for tat between Albany and New York City over the timing of the Rikers closure.

“I wouldn’t get lost in 10 years, 4 years, 6 years, 3 years,” he said. “This has to happen absolutely as soon as possible and I know the mayor and speaker are committed to that.”

Some state lawmakers said they hoped the report would lend urgency to the push to close Rikers. Last year, Brian A. Benjamin, a Democratic state senator whose district includes Harlem, sponsored legislation that called for Rikers to close within three years.

“It’s a very aggressive timeline, but what we are seeing requires aggressive activity on our part,” he said. “Ten years is way too long. I want it done before people leave office because you have no idea who could be the next mayor and what the priorities that a new mayor will have.”