“I commend the Speaker, Council Members Nurse and Rivera, and the entire City Council for taking this action to protect New Yorkers and ensure the administration complies with our laws – even ones the mayor opposes. Ending the harm of isolation is a moral and legal imperative.
“The administration clearly has the resources to implement Local Law 42. Instead, they’re using those resources to try to preserve the status quo on Rikers. I had hoped that when the Council overrode the mayor’s veto with more votes than the bill was originally passed by, the mayor would work to implement the law and improve conditions on Rikers. There is still an opportunity for the administration to act in good faith, but the Council’s vote today provides a safeguard and path to enact that a policy overwhelmingly approved by lawmakers is carried out in city jails.”