Mayor Eric Adams is pledging to shutter the long-troubled Rikers Island jail complex but recently outlined a number of challenges that could hamper the city from meeting the legally mandated closure deadline of 2027.
“Idealism can’t collide with realism,” Adams said during an interview on NY1 on Friday. “We want Rikers closed, but it has to be done correctly.”
While Adams promised to close Rikers during his candidacy, as mayor he has questioned the viability of doing so by the imposed deadline. The deal reached under the de Blasio administration calls for replacing the jail complex with four smaller borough-based jails.
Adams’ latest statements appeared aimed at quelling the growing pressure on his administration to close Rikers as a federal judge weighs whether to put the complex under outside management, also known as receivership. They came a day after the judge held the city Department of Correction in contempt of court for failing to inform a federal monitor about putting detainees accused of arson in a specialized unit that lacked fire sprinklers.
But the mayor’s remarks also effectively cast doubt on how long it will take to close Rikers, which has been plagued by dangerous conditions and alleged abuses for years. During Adams’ tenure, 28 people have died at the complex, though deaths are down this year — at nine, compared to 19 in 2022.
Adams declined to answer questions about Rikers during an unrelated press conference on Friday. A spokesperson for his office later declined to clarify whether the mayor remains committed to meeting the August 2027 closure deadline, which was enacted into law in 2019.
Jonathan Lippman, who chairs an independent commission responsible for ensuring Rikers closes on time and is a former state chief judge, jointly wrote a Daily News op-ed with Adams on Friday that raised a host of issues around shuttering the jails.
Lippman and Adams cited the law requiring the city to close Rikers, but also described obstacles to…
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