Press Room

With the city far behind its legal deadline to close Rikers Island by 2027, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams condemned the Adams administration for their lack of progress toward the goal and efforts which undermine it. This comes after the administration agreed last week to allow ICE onto Rikers in violation of the law, and the City Council moved to sue as a result.

“This has been an open secret, as the Adams administration has sat on its hands for most of its tenure, allowing the dysfunction in the jails to spiral and the death toll to rise,” said Public Advocate Williams on the delayed closure. “Though the jail population reached historic lows during the pandemic, and despite the planned borough-based jails’ capacity of only about 4,500 people, this administration has facilitated a consistent rise in the number of people incarcerated on Rikers Island every year since Adams took office. This lack of diligence and urgency has compromised the dignity and safety of people on both sides of the bars, and has cost at least 38 people their lives. 

“The blame for the city’s imminent failure to meet its deadline cannot be placed solely on Mayor Adams,” he continued. “But that is no exoneration from the direct and clear failure to put any systems at all in place to move toward this deadline.” He cited the administration’s anti-transparency policies and refusal to implement Local Law 42, saying “Efforts to obfuscate the abuse and dysfunction in the jails and to shirk transparency and accountability—including through dubiously legal executive orders to get around city laws the mayor doesn’t like—have exacerbated the suffering on Rikers Island.”

Public Advocate Williams further highlighted the enormous cost – $400,000 a year – of keeping a single person on Rikers, and raised his resolution as a cost-effective way of helping to prevent recidivism and promote public safety. Helping people meet immediate costs post-incarceration, he said, “is a relatively inexpensive, tangible way that we can ease the transition from incarceration back into the community.”

Finally, the Public Advocate emphasized the need for accountability and change, asking “How we can avoid another mayoral tenure—be it under Eric Adams, hopefully not, or someone else—of inaction and negligence.”

Read the Public Advocate’s full comments below.

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE APRIL 16, 2025

Good afternoon,

My name is Jumaane D. Williams and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I thank Chair Nurse and the members of the Committee on Criminal Justice for holding this hearing and giving me an opportunity to make a statement.

Despite the urgent humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island, it is impossible for the city to meet its legally mandated deadline to close Rikers by the year 2027. This has been an open secret as the Adams administration has sat on its hands for most of its tenure, allowing the dysfunction in the jails to spiral and the death toll to rise; however, the Independent Rikers Commission recently confirmed what we already knew in a report released last month. Though the jail population reached historic lows during the pandemic, and despite the planned borough-based jails’ capacity of only about 4,500 people, this administration has facilitated a consistent rise in the number of people incarcerated on Rikers Island every year since Adams took office. This lack of diligence and urgency has compromised the dignity and safety of people on both sides of the bars, and has cost at least 38 people their lives.

The blame for the city’s imminent failure, we have to be honest, to meet its deadline cannot be placed solely on Mayor Adams but that is no exoneration from the direct and clear failure to put any systems at all in place to move toward this deadline. The pandemic contributed to a backlog of court cases, and a wildcat strike at upstate prisons has forced the city to hold people in jail past the dates they were supposed to be transferred to state prisons. At the same time, there is a clear lack of urgency from this administration to decrease the population and ensure the city is hitting the benchmarks it needs to close the jails on time. Efforts to obfuscate the abuse and dysfunction in the jails and to shirk transparency and accountability—including through dubiously legal executive orders to get around city laws the mayor doesn’t like—have exacerbated the suffering on Rikers Island. It is clear that there must not only be the physical construction of new jails, but a radical culture shift to prevent the recreation of Rikers Island in each borough—an example the mayor has thus far failed to set.

While it is impossible to put a numerical value on a person’s life, the crisis at Rikers has cost the city in many other ways as well: holding one person in jail costs $400,000 annually. Closing Rikers Island and transitioning to the proposed borough-based jails will save the city $2.2 billion annually in operating and overtime costs. The closure of Rikers Island must not only be an investment in infrastructure—the new jails themselves—but in people and in communities. Rikers Island is currently the largest provider of mental health services in the city, I believe in North America, and this is neither appropriate nor practical. The city and state can decrease the number of people in jails by investing in and expanding mental health treatment and services—both inpatient and in the community. While the mayor likes to blame changes to the state’s bail laws for recidivism, the city is divesting from programs and services that help people successfully reintegrate back into civilian life – and recidivism has been a problem long before the state's bail laws were changed.  

In addition to this report from the Commission, several pieces of legislation are also being heard today. Resolution 371, sponsored by Councilmembers Hudson, Nurse, and myself calls on the State Legislature to pass S6643A/A9115, which would provide eligible incarcerated individuals with a monthly stipend upon release from a state correctional facility. A person released from incarceration is immediately faced with expenses, including housing, clothing, food, and acquiring identification documents. This is a relatively inexpensive, tangible way that we can ease the transition from incarceration back into the community. The Independent Rikers Commission report makes numerous clear and direct recommendations to lead the city back to the path to close Rikers Island as soon as possible, though after 2027. I want to focus here on accountability for the administration that has failed to meet its legal mandate and how we can avoid another mayoral tenure—be it under Eric Adams, hopefully not, or someone else—of inaction and negligence. We owe the families of those whose lives have been taken by Rikers Island that much. Thank you.

"The idea that Mayor Adams was recused from this decision is laughable. The deal was made a month ago, in the mayor’s agreement with ICE. His weak attempt to insulate himself from criticism for doing the Trump administration’s bidding is transparently ridiculous, and New Yorkers will see through it.

"The truth is that the mayor has long looked for every opportunity to expand collaboration with ICE – whether it was his own position or Donald Trump’s. By misleading the public about our sanctuary policies, he’s attempting to make it more acceptable to chip away at them and deport more immigrant New Yorkers, regardless of criminality or 'illegality.' This mayor has already demonstrated a willingness to ignore laws he doesn’t like, especially on Rikers, and this latest example is nothing more than an attempt to aid the Trump deportation machine that rips immigrant families from their homes and students from their campuses."

The Public Advocate will hold a virtual media availability at 1:00 PM today to further discuss this issue. Reporters can join by registering here.

"Mayor Adams offered a 'Hats Off' to ICE and Kristi Noem today as they have ripped families from homes, students from streets, and mistakenly sent people like Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to a horrific prison in El Salvador. At least now we know the so-called “independent” mayor’s hat is now MAGA-red by choice.

“Like so much of the mayor’s conduct, this is a disgrace. This has never been about criminality or 'illegality.' While families are being swept up in Sackets Harbor and student activists are being abducted at Columbia and elsewhere, Mayor Adams is more interested in scolding the media, misleading New Yorkers, and falsely re-litigating the last few years than in dealing with the real inhumanity and danger of the moment. 

“No matter what he claims, the mayor is neither a messiah nor a martyr. And it is clear he is only interested in defending himself and Donald Trump, not New Yorkers. It’s up to the rest of us to stand with our neighbors – as they did in Sackets Harbor – and stand up to irresponsible, harmful leaders.”

"The mayor was always entitled to his day in court – instead, he’s used his power and privilege to sidestep the process. No matter what he’ll now claim, this isn’t a testament to his innocence, but to his capitulation and fear.

"Judge Ho may have refunded the sale today, but Mayor Adams still sold out New York in the first place – and would unapologetically do so again and again. We’ll soon find out if his refusal to stand up to Donald Trump was because he was afraid, or because he agreed with him. 

"Prosecutors Danielle Sassoon, Hagan Scotten, First Deputy Torres-Springer and Deputy Mayors Parker, Joshi, and Williams-Isom are just some of the people who resigned because the mayor hasn’t cared enough about the city to do so himself. Based on the judge's own words, how can New Yorkers ever believe that the mayor won't continue to put his own interests above the best interests of our city?"

"Eid Mubarak to all New Yorkers celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

"Today as we celebrate Eid al-Fitr, we recognize the spirit that has defined this past month. I’ve been honored to join in many iftars and observances this year, and have been inspired and grounded by the resilience, resolve, generosity of our Muslim neighbors—values that extend far beyond today’s celebrations.

"I know that for many in the Muslim community, this time of joy is also met with uncertainty and pain – with suffering abroad and threats at home challenging basic identity and ideals. In moments of crisis, we must reaffirm our shared commitment—to combating Islamophobia and hatred, to advocating for justice, and to building a city where every New Yorker feels safe and seen.

"The lessons of Ramadan are universal. They remind us that our strength is greatest when it is shared. I pray that Eid brings you peace, blessings, and light, today and always."

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today called for urgent action to address a looming emergency for emergency responders. 911 operators and dispatchers are facing untenable, unacceptable working conditions and staff shortages that could threaten the city’s emergency response systems if not addressed immediately. The Public Advocate recently raised these issues to NYPD Commissioner Tisch, and joined workers at a press conference outside 1 Police Plaza today to further discuss the urgent issues.

“We have an emergency coming for our emergency responders – and there’s no one left for them to call,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “Without fair conditions and benefits, an end to punitive forced overtime, and sufficient training and staffing, we could be heading for a crisis with no one on the other end of the line. This is a core public safety issue – we need fast emergency response. That means we need more responders, more experienced operators, and support for the trauma of the people supporting New Yorkers in traumatic moments.”

911 dispatchers and operators, members of DC37 Local 5911, report being routinely subject to unworkable conditions, including mandatory overtime under threat of penalty, with some workers unable to go home between 16-hour shifts and needing instead to sleep in the facilities.

Despite the traumatic work they are engaged in on a regular basis, NYC’s Police Communications Technicians and Supervisors are considered clerical workers, and so not able to access mental health resources. As a result of these and other conditions, as well as pay that is not commensurate with the challenges of the work, staffing levels are alarmingly low and turnover is alarmingly high.   In a letter to NYPD Commissioner Tisch, the Public Advocate documented serious issues and potential exploitative actions that workers have reported including:

• Punitive measures - including docking pay - for an inability to work forced overtime
• 16-hour mandatory overtime shifts several days a week
• Employees sleeping in locker room facilities due to time and financial constraints
• A lack of adequate mental health resources despite the trauma inherent in the work
• Hearing and vision loss due to inadequate equipment and poor facility conditions.

To address these issues, the Public Advocate demanded the NYPD answer the following questions:

1. Does the NYPD believe staffing to be adequate to successfully maintain the system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
2. What are the overtime statistics compared to other divisions within the NYPD?
3. What are the absenteeism rates compared to other divisions within the NYPD?
4. What is the current retention rate, and how does it compare to the rate of vacancies filled? What strategies, if any, have proven successful in retaining staff?
5. What contingency plans are in place if the system were to be overwhelmed?
6. What specific measures are being considered to improve staff working conditions and overall well-being?
7. What previous efforts to address these issues have been attempted, and why were they unsuccessful?
8. If 100% of the funds from surcharges were redirected to 911 operations, how would you suggest they be used to strengthen operations?

The dedication of Local 5911 workers is deep, but the consequences of a failure to address this crisis are dire. Read the full letter from the Public Advocate here.