Unlike his two predecessors, Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces a tough battle with the Rikers Island jails. He confronts dual crises stemming from the collapse of the de Blasio “replacement” plan and the impending imposition of a federal overseer.
City law mandates the entire Rikers complex to close by 2027, but state law prevents shutting it down until replacement facilities are built. Unfortunately, the first of four new jails isn’t scheduled to be completed before 2029, the last not until 2032. Moreover, even when finished, these new jails will not provide enough beds to replace Rikers’ current 15,000-detainee capacity.
Meanwhile, federal Judge Laura Swain is moving—albeit slowly—to impose a “remediation manager” tasked with reducing violence and improving conditions at the jails. This action is pursuant to the 2015 consent decree in the Nunez case. It’s telling that the city government committed to fixing Rikers back when Barack Obama was president, yet the situation has only worsened over the past decade. Violence has increased, and a federal monitoring team—comprising highly paid experts who have billed taxpayers $22 million since 2024 alone—has issued dozens of critical reports without generating lasting improvements.
The left-wing “decarceral” movement advocates for minimal incarceration of criminals. Mayor Bill de Blasio embraced this ideology when he approved the “replace Rikers” plan, which aimed to reduce the city’s jail capacity permanently while overlooking the dire conditions on the island. Mayor Eric Adams tried to implement reforms and acknowledged the failure of the replacement plan, but he struggled to get the broader political establishment to confront the harsh realities.
Mayor Mamdani has echoed the “decarceral” stance throughout his brief political career. However, as mayor, he appears to be coming to terms with the fact that ideology alone offers no practical solutions. The surge in crime threatens to derail his ambitious agenda, which likely explains why he has yet to appoint a Correction commissioner. His team must first figure out how to manage these overlapping crises.
Adding to the complexity is a correction-officer union still grappling with internal turmoil following its leader’s 2016 corruption conviction. Despite the urgency, Judge Swain has been hesitant to take a hard line. She is currently seeking to appoint a federal overseer who will collaborate closely with City Hall to improve jail conditions.
Mayor Mamdani inherits a jail complex plagued by dysfunction, mismanagement, and rampant violence. Inmate deaths from overdoses, suicides, and preventable causes have become tragically routine. Meanwhile, Judge Swain appears content to delay decisive action, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District has failed to pressure her to act more forcefully.
For years, The Post has advocated for a full federal takeover of Rikers, believing that nothing less can bring about meaningful change. Perhaps the new mayor will join this call, aiming to finally resolve this intractable crisis and lift this heavy burden from his shoulders.
https://nypost.com/2026/01/18/opinion/how-mamdani-can-escape-the-serious-hard-time-that-rikers-island-now-promises-him/
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