New York state lawmakers said they will renew their push to reopen a window that allows sexual abuse victims more time to file claims after a new Gothamist analysis of hundreds of lawsuits revealed a pattern of alleged misconduct and sexual assault at Rikers Island.
The chair of the City Council’s criminal justice committee, which oversees the Department of Correction, vowed to hold an oversight hearing on “systematic” abuse at the troubled jail complex in response to the investigation.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called for a “thorough investigation” into the allegations at press conference on Tuesday,
The reactions from state and city lawmakers come in response to a Gothamist report that found 719 of the 1,256 lawsuits filed in New York City’s state supreme under the Adult Survivors Act accuse the city and the NYC Department of Correction of turning a blind eye to rampant sexual assault at Rikers. The law opened a one-year window for victims to file civil lawsuits outside the statute of limitations. That window closed in November.
The 719 lawsuits seek a total of over $14.7 billion in damages and come as a federal judge considers whether to strip city officials of their control over the jail complex due to its high rates of violence and dysfunction.
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, who sponsored the Adult Survivors Act, said lawmakers will be “pushing heavily” to reopen the filing window under the law so people who did not get a chance to file a lawsuit before the deadline will have another opportunity.
Councilmember Sandy Nurse, who chairs the City Council’s criminal justice committee, said she expects to hold an oversight hearing in response to Gothamist’s reporting to question city officials about what she sees as a “systematic” issue on Rikers Island.
Rosenthal called Gothamist’s report “an indictment of the system.”
“All of these charges need to be proven in the court of law. But the fact that there are so many — and so many in the…
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