Press Room

"Another New Yorker lost their life in city custody today, the fifth of the year and 33rd under this administration. This is the status quo on Rikers the mayor was so desperate to preserve that he refused to enforce the law banning solitary and the use of prolonged isolation, declaring a state of emergency to block it. There has long been a crisis on Rikers, as today’s tragic loss shows, but the administration is relying on keeping that emergency in place, rather than acting to address it.”

"This harmful ruling will only deepen the longstanding housing and homelessness crisis in our city. The CityFHEPS voucher program has been vital to helping people most in need find and stay in their homes, and the City Council's expansion of the service was invaluable as rents continue to rise. I support their decision to pursue an appeal.

"The Adams administration’s cold, callous refusal to implement yet another law approved twice by the Council, their choice to take this case to court instead of helping people access homes, will leave many New Yorkers without options. This mayor professes to care about affordability, but has once again failed to prioritize the needs of the city over his personal politics."

"The administration is lying again about this law– which it hasn’t even pretended it was going to follow or read. They have absolutely no idea what’s involved in implementation, because they didn’t try. The Board of Correction unanimously passed rules to facilitate the law taking effect, and the administration ignored them.

"This is not an issue you can ‘take sides’ on. This is the law – passed, then passed again over the mayor’s veto. The ‘law and order’ administration is simply refusing to enforce the law, and not for the first time. They are wrong, factually and morally, and I implore them to stop misleading the city and to start leading it."

"Now that the administration has decided to ignore the laws it opposes and rewrite the rules that get in its way, the mayor has nominated a corporation counsel who will defend these and future tactics. Randy Mastro’s record does speak for itself, and what it says should cause New Yorkers great concern. Both the Council and our office made these concerns clear for months, and the administration stubbornly insisted upon this nomination. Despite the mayor’s recent power grab through charter revision, the Council still has to vote on this appointment, and I hope they use that power to reject it."

On Saturday, without adequate public notice or legitimate justification, Mayor Eric Adams declared a “state of emergency” in a last-minute effort to continue solitary confinement in New York City by blocking a law passed to prevent it. The mayor used the ‘state of emergency’ on Rikers as a justification to preserve the status quo of that emergency, rather than allowing a law approved twice by the City Council to take effect. In response, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, prime sponsor of the legislation, urged the mayor to read the law and carry out its provisions.

“I invite the mayor, yet again, to read the legislation he is refusing to implement,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “The mayor continues to believe that his job is to continually ignore and defy the rest of city government and the laws they enact. But the administration’s failure to meaningfully improve the crisis on Rikers is not a valid argument to ignore a law aimed at actually making city jails safer for people on both sides of the bars – addressing the very emergency that the mayor ignored until it was politically necessary. We attempted to work with the administration in good faith throughout the years of deliberations involved in passing this law and were rebuffed – now, we will not allow people to continue to suffer in prolonged isolation as the mayor misleads the city rather than even attempt to carry out the law the Council enacted.”

In attempting to justify yet another move to ignore city laws he opposes, the mayor has argued that the 30-day state of emergency will allow time to review Local Law 42, which was formally introduced two years ago, passed in 2023, and was enacted in a veto override vote six months ago. Despite this ample time to ‘review’ the law, the administration continues to repeat falsehoods about its mandates and process.

In particular, the administration has argued that Local Law 42 entirely prohibits restraining incarcerated individuals, which is belied by the text of the law. The law reads:

• “Use of restraints. 1. The department shall not place an incarcerated person in restraints unless an individualized determination is made that restraints are necessary to prevent an imminent risk of self-injury or injury to other persons. In such instances, only the least restrictive form of restraints may be used and may be used no longer than is necessary to abate such imminent harm. Restraints shall not be used on an incarcerated person under the age of 22 except in the following circumstances: (i) during transportation in and out of a facility, provided that during transportation no person shall be secured to an immovable object; and (ii) during escorted movement within a facility to and from out-of-cell activities where an individualized determination is made that restraints are necessary to prevent an immediate risk of self-injury or injury to other persons."

In addition, the mayor has argued that the legislation as written does not allow for separation or alternative housing for incarcerated people in the event of violence. On the contrary, provisions for de-escalation confinement are defined extensively in the law itself – which can be read in full here. 

After the Mayor’s declaration was made public through press reports, the Public Advocate issued a statement saying in part “This is a shameful tactic, another desperate abuse of power by this administration to try and ignore laws it opposes. Misusing a ‘state of emergency’ is dangerous, especially from a mayor who claims to care about public safety.”

"This is a shameful tactic, another desperate abuse of power by this administration to try and ignore laws it opposes. Misusing a ‘state of emergency’ is dangerous, especially from a mayor who claims to care about public safety. Any state of emergency on Rikers continues to be caused by an administration that has refused to engage with partners to meaningfully improve conditions, with a preference for covering up the crisis and spreading misinformation.

"Now, the mayor wants to throw out yet another law of our city in order to maintain a status quo that threatens people on both sides of the bars. At the last possible moment, he is declaring an ‘emergency’ without public notification or legitimate justification. It is inexcusable, and we will explore all means of ensuring that this administration cannot continue to abandon its duty to execute the law the Council overwhelmingly approved twice."