{{Short description|Island, jail complex in New York City}} {{For|the song by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo|Rikers Island (song)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox protected area | name = Rikers Island | map = USA New York City | image = 387px | image_caption = The island and jail complex, 2004 | image_size = | location = The Bronx, New York City, United States | nearest_city = New York City | coordinates = {{coord|40|47|28|N|73|52|58|W|region:US-NY|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | area_acre = 413 | established = 1932 | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = Non-city employee remediation manager reporting to Laura Taylor Swain<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meko |first=Hurubie |title=Outside Official Will Take Over Deadly Rikers Island Jail, Judge Orders |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/nyregion/rikers-island-receiver-nyc.html |access-date=May 14, 2025 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> }} '''Rikers Island''' is a {{convert|413|acre|ha|2|abbr=off|adj=on}}<ref name="BBC News 2019">{{Cite web |date=October 18, 2019 |title=New York's infamous Rikers Island jail is to close |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50095418 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118004540/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50095418 |archive-date=January 18, 2023 |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Medina 2019">{{Cite web |last=Medina |first=Daniel A |date=December 9, 2019 |title=Rikers 2.0: inside the battle to build four new jails in New York City |url=http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/dec/09/rikers-20-inside-the-battle-to-build-four-new-prisons-in-new-york-city |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118004541/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/dec/09/rikers-20-inside-the-battle-to-build-four-new-prisons-in-new-york-city |archive-date=January 18, 2023 |access-date=January 18, 2023 |website=the Guardian}}</ref> prison island in the East River in the Bronx, New York City, United States,<ref name="taxblock2007" /> that contains New York City's largest jail.<ref name="senay2007">{{Cite web |date=2007 |title=Dr. Emily Senay, M.D., M.P.H. |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dr-emily-senay-md-mph/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629162937/https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/16/earlyshow/bios/main509357.shtml |archive-date=June 29, 2007 |access-date=July 27, 2007 |publisher=CBS News |quote=In addition to making house calls for homebound patients in Manhattan through Betances Health Unit, Dr. Senay has worked in a variety of clinical settings including '''Rikers Island, New York City's largest jail...'''}}</ref><ref name="Schapiro 2017">{{Cite web |last=Schapiro |first=Rich |date=March 18, 2017 |title=Potential closure of Rikers Island is opportunity for developers |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/potential-closure-rikers-island-opportunity-developers-article-1.3002283 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322055729/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/potential-closure-rikers-island-opportunity-developers-article-1.3002283 |archive-date=March 22, 2017 |access-date=April 3, 2017 |website=New York Daily News}}</ref> It is named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664. The island was originally under {{convert|100|acre|ha}} in size, but has since grown to more than {{convert|400|acres|ha}}. The first stages of expansion were accomplished largely by convict labor hauling in ashes for landfill. The island is politically part of the Bronx, with a bridge being the only access available from Queens. It is part of Queens Community Board 1 and uses an East Elmhurst, Queens, ZIP Code of 11370 for mail.<ref name="taxblock2007">{{Cite web |last=New York City Department of City Planning |title=Tax Block & Tax Lot Base Map Files on CD-ROM |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/bytes/cd_user_guide_07c.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105193642/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/bytes/cd_user_guide_07c.pdf |archive-date=November 5, 2014 |access-date=July 26, 2007 |quote=Similar to the Marble Hill situation is that of Rikers Island. Rikers Island is part of the Borough of The Bronx. However, it is administratively included in Queens Community District 1.}}</ref>
The island is the site of one of the world's largest correctional institutions and mental institutions,<ref name="compost">{{Cite web |title=Rikers Island Food Waste Composting Facility |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/compost/operations_rikers.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819125609/http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/compost/operations_rikers.shtml |archive-date=August 19, 2014 |access-date=August 17, 2014 |publisher=NYC Recycles}}</ref> and has been described as New York's best-known jail.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Staff |date=April 12, 2017 |title=The end for New York's most famous jail |url=https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21720666-plan-close-rikers-island-reflects-wider-improvement-end-new-yorks-most |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413184028/http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21720666-plan-close-rikers-island-reflects-wider-improvement-end-new-yorks-most |archive-date=April 13, 2017 |access-date=April 14, 2017 |work=The Economist}}</ref> The complex, operated by the New York City Department of Correction, in 2015 had a budget of $860 million a year, a staff of 9,000 civilian officers and 1,500 other civilians managing 100,000 admissions per year and an average daily population of 10,000 inmates.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Goldensohn, Rosa |date=June 18, 2015 |title=Rikers Population Falls Below 10,000 For First Time in Decades |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150618/east-elmhurst/rikers-population-falls-below-10000-for-first-time-decades |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222162907/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150618/east-elmhurst/rikers-population-falls-below-10000-for-first-time-decades |archive-date=December 22, 2015 |access-date=December 11, 2015 |work=DNAinfo New York}}</ref> The majority (85%) of detainees are pretrial defendants, either held on bail or remanded in custody. The rest of the population have been convicted and are serving short sentences.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Staff |date=December 16, 2014 |title=What is Rikers Island? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/nyregion/what-is-happening-at-rikers-island.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404044217/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/nyregion/what-is-happening-at-rikers-island.html |archive-date=April 4, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In a 2021 analysis by the New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, it costs the city about $556,539 to detain one person for one year at Rikers Island.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 6, 2021 |title=Cost of Incarceration per Person in New York City Skyrockets to All-Time High |url=https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comptroller-stringer-cost-of-incarceration-per-person-in-new-york-city-skyrockets-to-all-time-high-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222135410/https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comptroller-stringer-cost-of-incarceration-per-person-in-new-york-city-skyrockets-to-all-time-high-2/ |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |access-date=December 22, 2021 |website=comptroller.nyc.gov}}</ref>
Rikers Island has had a reputation for violence, physical and mental abuse, and neglect of its inmates, and has attracted press and judicial scrutiny that has resulted in numerous rulings against the New York City government. Numerous assaults have occurred by inmates on uniformed officers and other civilian staff, often resulting in serious injuries. In May 2013, Rikers Island ranked as one of the 10 worst correctional facilities in the entire United States, based on reporting in ''Mother Jones'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Ridgeway |first=James |author-link=James Ridgeway |last2=Casellaurl |first2=Jean |date=May 14, 2013 |title=America's 10 Worst Prisons: Rikers Island |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/america-10-worst-prisons-rikers-island-new-york-city |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802060613/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/america-10-worst-prisons-rikers-island-new-york-city/ |archive-date=August 2, 2018 |access-date=July 9, 2018 |magazine=Mother Jones}}</ref> A documented increase in violence on Rikers Island was reported by the 2010s. In 2015, 9,424 assaults happened, the highest number in five years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mannarino |first=David |date=February 9, 2016 |title=Inside Rikers Island: A look at violence and corruption in the complex |url=http://pix11.com/2016/02/09/inside-rikers-island-a-look-at-violence-and-corruption-in-the-complex/ |website=PIX11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318223558/http://pix11.com/2016/02/09/inside-rikers-island-a-look-at-violence-and-corruption-in-the-complex/ |archive-date=March 18, 2017 |access-date=April 1, 2017}}</ref> In October 2019, the New York City Council voted to close down the facility by August 31, 2027.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://rikers.cityofnewyork.us/faq/ |access-date=2026-05-12 |website=Rikers |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Complex and facilities== The Rikers Island complex, which consists of ten jails, holds local alleged offenders who are awaiting trial. People who are serving sentences of one year or less or are also temporarily detained there, pending transfer to another facility.<ref name="CRIPA investigation" /> Rikers Island is therefore not a prison by US terminology, which typically holds offenders serving longer-term sentences. It holds 10 of the New York City Department of Correction's 15 facilities, and can accommodate up to 15,000 detainees.<ref name="adoc">{{Cite web |title=About DOC |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/about_doc.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911035958/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/about_doc.shtml |archive-date=September 11, 2014 |access-date=August 17, 2014 |publisher=New York City Department of Corrections}}</ref><ref name="faco">{{Cite web |title=Facilities Overview |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/facilities-overview.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807215419/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/facilities-overview.shtml |archive-date=August 7, 2014 |access-date=August 17, 2014 |publisher=New York City Department of Corrections}}</ref>
Facilities located on the island include:<ref name=faco/> * Robert N. Davoren Complex (primarily male inmates of ages 18–21) * Eric M. Taylor Center (sentenced male adolescents and adults)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chozick |first=Amy |date=December 29, 2019 |orig-date=December 27, 2019 |title=Rikers Island Barista Academy. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/business/rikers-island-baristas.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228121154/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/business/rikers-island-baristas.html |archive-date=December 28, 2019 |work=The New York Times |location=Eric M. Taylor Center |page=1 |via=Cengage |issn=0362-4331 |id={{Gale|A610059947}}}}</ref> * Otis Bantum Correctional Center (detained male adults) * George R. Vierno Center (detained male adults) * Anna M. Kross Center (detained male adults) * George Motchan Detention Center (detained male adults) * Rose M. Singer Center (detained and sentenced female adolescents and adults) * North Infirmary Command (detainees who require medical attention) * West Facility (detainees with contagious diseases) * James A. Thomas Center (no longer used to house detainees)<ref name="faco" /> * ''Harold A. Wildstein'' barge (no longer in use) * ''Walter B. Keane'' barge (no longer in use) thumb|left|upright=1.5|An aerial photo of the jail complex The average daily individuals in custody or detainees population on the island is about 10,000,<ref name=":0" /> although it can hold a maximum of 15,000.<ref name="adoc" /> The daytime population, including detainees, staff, and visitors, can be as high as 20,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barth |first=Kodi |title=A City of Jails |url=http://www.nyc24.org/2003/islands/zone2/rikershistory.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908021620/http://www.nyc24.org/2003/islands/zone2/rikershistory.html |archive-date=September 8, 2006 |access-date=December 31, 2008}}</ref><ref name="chist">{{Cite web |title=Ten Jails on Rikers Island |url=http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/jailist1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817210621/http://correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/jailist1.html |archive-date=August 17, 2014 |access-date=August 17, 2014 |publisher=Correction History}}</ref>
The only road access to the island is from Queens, over the {{convert|4200|ft|adj=on}}, three-lane Francis Buono Bridge, dedicated in November 1966, by Mayor John Lindsay.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Devlin |first=John C. |date=November 23, 1966 |title='Bridge of Hope' to Rikers Island Is Dedicated Here |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/11/23/archives/bridge-of-hope-to-rikers-island-is-dedicated-here-mayor-opens.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824205605/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/11/23/archives/bridge-of-hope-to-rikers-island-is-dedicated-here-mayor-opens.html |archive-date=August 24, 2018 |access-date=August 24, 2018 |work=The New York Times |page=41 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The street address is 15 Hazen Street, East Elmhurst, NY 11370. Before the bridge was constructed, the only access to the island was by ferry.<ref>[https://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/rispan2.html Rikers Island Bridge Opened], ''Correction Sidelights'', Spring 1967. Accessed January 18, 2024.</ref> Transportation is also provided by the {{NYC bus link|Q100}} MTA Regional Bus Operations route.<ref>{{Cite NYC bus map|Q}}</ref> Privately operated shuttles connect the parking lot at the south end to the island. A bus service within the island for people visiting inmates is provided by the New York City Department of Correction on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kilgannon |first=Corey |date=February 13, 2006 |title=Taking the Bus to Rikers Island (and Back, Too) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/13/nyregion/taking-the-bus-to-rikers-island-and-back-too.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404045341/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/13/nyregion/taking-the-bus-to-rikers-island-and-back-too.html |archive-date=April 4, 2017 |access-date=April 3, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
The North Infirmary Command, which used to be called the Rikers Island Infirmary, is used to house inmates requiring extreme protective custody, inmates with special health needs, mentally ill inmates, and inmates undergoing drug detoxification. The infirmary has the capacity to house overflow inmates from conventional populations. The rest of the facilities, all built in the last 67 years, make up this city of jails, in addition to the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, a floating barge (described below), as well as schools, medical clinics, ball fields, chapels, gyms, drug rehabilitation programs, grocery stores, barbershops, a bakery, a laundromat, a power plant, a track, a tailor shop, a print shop, a bus depot, and a car wash. It also contains a large composting facility.<ref name=compost/>
==History==
===Historic use=== [[File:Panorama of Riker's Island, N.Y. (1903).webm|thumb|thumbtime=1:00|A 1903 panorama of Rikers Island by Edwin S. Porter]] The island is named after Abraham Rycken,<ref name="ds 188005">[http://www.astorialic.org/starjournal/1800s/1880may_p.php Daily Star May 1880] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928032149/http://www.astorialic.org/starjournal/1800s/1880may_p.php |date=September 28, 2007 }} Greater Astoria Historical Society. Accessed July 27, 2007. "His daughter Grietie married Abraham Rycken; it is after this prominent Queens family that Rikers Island is named."</ref><ref name="enc">Vieritti, Joseph P. "Rikers Isand" in {{cite enc-nyc2|p=1105}}</ref><ref>Staff (March 3, 1940) [https://www.proquest.com/docview/105405356/ "Alpheus P. Riker Dies"] ''The New York Times'' p.46</ref> a Dutch settler who moved to Long Island in 1638 and took possession of the island in 1664.<ref>Farrell, William M. (August 24, 2018) [https://www.nytimes.com/1953/04/29/archives/rustic-paradise-on-rikers-island-shortterm-prisoners-tend-trees-and.html "Rustic 'Paradise' On Rikers Island; Short-Term Prisoners Tend Trees and Shrubs Destined for City Parks, Parkways"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824205548/https://www.nytimes.com/1953/04/29/archives/rustic-paradise-on-rikers-island-shortterm-prisoners-tend-trees-and.html |date=August 24, 2018 }} ''The New York Times'' p. 31. Accessed August 24, 2018</ref> Rycken's descendants, the Ricker family, owned Rikers Island until 1884, when it was sold to the city for $180,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barth |first=Kodi |title=An Overview of Rikers Island: A City of Jails |url=http://www.nyc24.org/2003/islands/zone2/rikershistory.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908021620/http://www.nyc24.org/2003/islands/zone2/rikershistory.html |archive-date=September 8, 2006 |website=NYC24.com |quote=Named after Abraham Rycken, a Dutch settler who moved to Long Island in 1638 and whose descendants owned Rikers Island till 1884.}}</ref>
The island was used as a military training ground during the Civil War. The first regiment to use the island was the 9th New York Infantry, also known as Hawkins' Zouaves, which arrived there on May 15, 1861. Hawkins' Zouaves were followed by the 36th New York State Volunteers on June 23, which were followed by the Anderson Zouaves on July 15, 1861. The Anderson Zouaves were commanded by John Lafayette Riker, who was related to the owners of the island.
The camp of the Anderson Zouaves was named Camp Astor in compliment to millionaire John Jacob Astor Jr.. Astor provided funding for the army, and made a significant contribution to the raising of the Anderson Zouaves, with the Astor ladies making the zouave uniforms worn by the recruits of this regiment. Rikers Island was subsequently used by numerous other Civil War regiments, but the name "Camp Astor" was specific to the Anderson Zouaves, and did not become a general name for the military encampment on the island.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}
In 1883, New York City's Commission of Charities and Corrections expressed an interest in purchasing the island for use as a work-house. Any such purchase would have to be approved by the state. In January 1884, state senator Frederick S. Gibbs introduced a bill in the state senate authorizing the commission to purchase the island.<ref>Staff (January 30, 1884) [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/01/30/106140022.pdf "Pilot Fees at New-York"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214015310/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/01/30/106140022.pdf |date=December 14, 2019 }} ''The New York Times''</ref> In May 1884, Governor Grover Cleveland signed a bill authorizing the Commissioner of Charities and Corrections to purchase the island for a sum no greater than $180,000.<ref>Staff (May 25, 1884) [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/05/25/103617674.pdf "City and Suburban News: New-York"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918073647/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/05/25/103617674.pdf |date=September 18, 2021 }} ''The New York Times''</ref>
At the time, the island was within the boundaries of Long Island City in Queens County, which was not yet part of New York City. This potential transfer set off squabbling between politicians of Long Island City, Queens County, and New York City.<ref>Staff (July 3, 1884) [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/07/03/103621507.pdf "The Purchase of Riker's Island"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918070515/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/07/03/103621507.pdf |date=September 18, 2021 }} ''The New York Times''</ref> On July 31, 1884, a compromise was agreed to by all three entities. New York City agreed to pay $3,000, with $2,500 given to Long Island City and $500 to Queens County.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/08/01/106284085.pdf "City and Suburban News: Long Island"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214015311/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/08/01/106284085.pdf |date=December 14, 2019 }} ''New York Times'', August 1, 1884</ref> On August 4, 1884, the Commissioner of Charities and Corrections, Jacob Hess, signed a contract purchasing the island from John T. Wilson, a descendant of the Ryker family, for $180,000. $179,000 went to Wilson and $1,000 for a title search.<ref>Staff ( August 5, 1884) [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/08/05/106284643.pdf "City and Suburban News: New-York"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918084459/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/08/05/106284643.pdf |date=September 18, 2021 }} ''The New York Times''</ref>
===Conversion to jail=== {{stack|[[File:Rikers Island from the air.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|An aerial photo of Rikers Island, photographed from the north. LaGuardia Airport and its 4/22 runway stretch is visible, 250 feet (76.2 m) from the island. Shea Stadium can be seen across Flushing Bay.]]}} The city expressed a desire to open a jail for men on Rikers Island as early as 1908,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=Edmond |title=The elimination of the tramp by the introduction into America of the labour colony system already proved effective in Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland, with the modifications thereof necessary to adapt this system to American conditions |publisher=Putnam |year=1908 |pages=86 |language=en}}</ref> in order to replace their overburdened and dilapidated jail on Welfare Island, now Roosevelt Island. The jail was opened in 1932. Landfill continued to be added to the island until 1943, eventually enlarging the original {{convert|90|acre|ha|adj=on}} island to {{convert|415|acre|ha}}. This required the permission of the federal government, since the expansion extended the island's pier line.<ref name="unbound">{{cite unbound |pages=214–12; 217; 241–42; 244}}</ref> {{convert|200|acres|ha}} were also stripped from Rikers to help fill in the new North Beach Airport, which opened in 1939 and was later renamed LaGuardia Airport.<ref name="unbound" />
The net expansion of the island enabled the jail facilities to expand.<ref name="disaster">{{Cite news |last=Rakia |first=Raven |date=March 15, 2016 |title=A sinking jail: The environmental disaster that is Rikers Island |url=http://grist.org/justice/a-sinking-jail-the-environmental-disaster-that-is-rikers-island/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316003027/http://grist.org/justice/a-sinking-jail-the-environmental-disaster-that-is-rikers-island/ |archive-date=March 16, 2016 |access-date=March 15, 2016 |work=Grist}}</ref> The original penitentiary building, completed in 1935, was called HDM, or the House of Detention for Men. It became a maximum security facility called the James A. Thomas Center and closed due to structural issues in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ten Jails on Rikers Island |url=http://correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/jailist1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020185656/http://correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/jailist1.html |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |access-date=October 21, 2014 |website=Correctionhistory.org}}</ref>
In 1922, New York City was banned by the courts from dumping garbage in the ocean. Much of it ended up on Rikers Island, though the island already had 12 mountains of garbage 40 to 130 feet tall. Rikers took in 1.5 million cubic yards of additional refuse, more than the amount of soil displaced by the building of the World Trade Center. Since much of the garbage was composed of ash from coal heating and incinerators, spontaneous phosphorescent fires were frequent, even in the wintertime, in the snow. One warden described it in 1934: "At night, it is like a forest of Christmas trees – first one little light ... then another, until the whole hillside is lit up with little fires. ... It was beautiful."<ref name=unbound/>
The island was plagued with rats, which at one point were so prevalent that after "poison gas, poison bait, ferocious dogs, and pigs" failed to control them, one New Yorker tried to organize a hunting party to kill them off. It took the efforts of city planner Robert Moses, who did not want the unsightly island to be the backdrop for his carefully landscaped 1939 World's Fair, to get the island cleaned up, and have the city's garbage sent elsewhere — ultimately to the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island.<ref name=unbound/>
During the term of David Dinkins as mayor of New York, the jail filled to overflowing. The Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center (VCBC), an 800-bed barge, was installed on the East River at the end of Hunts Point near the Fulton Fish Market to accommodate the extra inmates.<ref>[https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/401-22/mayor-adams-hunts-point-community-leaders-release-comprehensive-plan-create-economic#/0 "Mayor Adams, Hunts Point Community Leaders Release Comprehensive Plan to Create Economic Opportunity, Improve Quality of Life in Hunts Point"], Mayor of New York City Eric Adams, June 15, 2022. Accessed January 18, 2024. "Closing the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, an 800-bed jail barge, and starting a community engagement process to repurpose the adjoining city-owned parking lot"</ref> The keel for the Vernon C. Bain was laid in 1989 at the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans. Upon completion, VCBC was towed up from Louisiana to its current mooring, and attached to two "Crandall Arms". It opened for use as a facility in 1992. Originally it had been leased to the NYC Department of Juvenile Justice, while Spofford Juvenile Center was under reconstruction. VCBC was formerly known as Maritime Facility #3 (MTF3); facilities 1 and 2 were reconstructed British military transport barges, or BIBBYs (British Industries Boat Building Yard), used during the Falklands War, both of which could house 800 soldiers, but only 200 inmates after their conversion. MTFs 1 and 2 were anchored on either side of Manhattan at East River pier 17, near 20th street, in the Hudson River. In addition, two smaller 1950s-era Staten Island Ferry boats were converted to house 162 inmates each. The ferry boats were sold for salvage around 2003, and the owner of the shipyard that built VCBC, Avondale Shipyard, bought the two BIBBYs. VCBC is the only vessel of its type in the world. Prior to modification for use by New York City, it cost $161 million to construct.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Travels of Tug 44 |url=http://www.tug44.org/tugboats.trawlers/prison-barge-vernon-c-bain/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216182913/http://www.tug44.org/tugboats.trawlers/prison-barge-vernon-c-bain/ |archive-date=December 16, 2012 |access-date=October 16, 2013 |publisher=Tug44.org}}</ref> The initial plan for acquiring the vessel, because of the way New York City makes capital purchases, had to begin at least five years before the keel was laid, during the tenure of Ed Koch.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}
===Notable events=== Rikers is close to the runways of LaGuardia Airport.<ref name="unbound" /> On February 1, 1957, Northeast Airlines Flight 823 crashed onto Rikers Island shortly after departing LaGuardia Airport, killing 20 and injuring 78 out of a total of 95 passengers and six crew. After the crash, department personnel and inmates ran to the site to help survivors. As a result of their actions, of the 57 inmates who assisted with the rescue effort, 30 were released and 16 received a sentence reduction of six months by the NYC Parole Board. Governor Averell Harriman also granted commutation of sentence to 11 men serving definite sentences, two received a six-months' reduction; one workhouse and eight penitentiary definites became eligible for immediate release.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rikers Island Air Crash |url=http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/rikersaircrash/1957rikersaircrash.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017013437/http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/rikersaircrash/1957rikersaircrash.html |archive-date=October 17, 2013 |access-date=October 16, 2013 |publisher=Correctionhistory.org}}</ref>
In 1993, United Blood Nation was founded by Omar Portee and Leonard McKenzie while locked up in the George Mochen Detention Center at Rikers Island.<ref>Staff (May 18, 2017) [https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/united-blood-nation-history-terminology-background/523960078/ "United Blood Nation history, terminology, background"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202012908/https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/united-blood-nation-history-terminology-background/523960078/ |date=December 2, 2020 }} WSOC-TV</ref>
A drawing by artist Salvador Dalí, done as an apology because he was unable to attend a talk about art for the prisoners at Rikers Island, hung in the inmate dining room in JATC (HDM) from 1965 to 1981, when it was moved to the prison lobby in EMTC (C76) for safekeeping. The drawing was stolen in March 2003 and replaced with a fake. Three correctional officers and an assistant deputy warden were arrested and charged, and though the three later pleaded guilty and one was acquitted, the drawing has not been recovered.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Von Zielbauer |first=Paul |date=October 4, 2003 |title=Art Too Tempting at Rikers; Plot to Steal a Dalí Was Far From a Masterpiece |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/04/nyregion/art-too-tempting-at-rikers-plot-to-steal-a-dali-was-far-from-a-masterpiece.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808105853/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/04/nyregion/art-too-tempting-at-rikers-plot-to-steal-a-dali-was-far-from-a-masterpiece.html |archive-date=August 8, 2017 |access-date=August 24, 2018 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 18, 2003 |title=Guards charged in Dali theft |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2999430.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105123736/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2999430.stm |archive-date=November 5, 2011 |access-date=October 21, 2014 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>
During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, at the request of the Association for Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) and the Executive Director Yolanda Serrano, the prison granted early release to terminal HIV-positive inmates so that they could die peacefully in their own homes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Zoe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U-UCAAAAMBAJ&q=yolanda+serrano+and+adapt&pg=PA35 |title=ADAPT and Survive |date=May 9, 1988 |publisher=New York Magazine |language=en |access-date=November 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321053509/https://books.google.com/books?id=U-UCAAAAMBAJ&q=yolanda+serrano+and+adapt&pg=PA35 |archive-date=March 21, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
The prison housed juvenile inmates until 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ransom |first=Jan |date=October 3, 2018 |title=Teenagers Were Moved Off Rikers for Safety. Their Brawls Came, Too. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/nyregion/rikers-island-teenagers-horizon.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031172625/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/nyregion/rikers-island-teenagers-horizon.html |archive-date=October 31, 2020 |access-date=August 30, 2020 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> The move was prompted by a law passed by New York in 2017 requiring that juvenile inmates under 18 be housed separately from adults.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ransom |first=Jan |last2=Stewart |first2=Nikita |date=September 28, 2018 |title=7 Key Questions as New York Moves Teenagers Out of Rikers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/nyregion/nyc-teenagers-rikers-island.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929093808/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/nyregion/nyc-teenagers-rikers-island.html |archive-date=September 29, 2020 |access-date=August 30, 2020 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
===Proposed closure of jail complex=== In April 1978, New York state legislators received a proposal from Herb Sturz, then deputy mayor of criminal justice for mayor Ed Koch, to buy or lease Rikers Island from NYC, thus closing it as a city-wide jail. NYC would use the proceeds to build local jails in the Burroughs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goldstein |first=Tom |date=1978-04-23 |title=Albany Seeking to Buy or Lease Jails on ikers Island From City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/23/archives/albany-seeking-to-buy-or-lease-jails-on-rikers-island-from-city.html |access-date=2026-02-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> By November 1978, $35 million was appropriated for the first phase of the deal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=Nov 28, 1978 |title=Topics Where Credit Is Due |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/28/archives/topics-where-credit-is-due-you-scratch-my-bank-cell-sale-going-his.html |access-date=2026-02-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In June 1979, the State and NYC completed a Rikers lease agreement. Sturz said: ''It gives us the opportunity to build modern, constitutional, humane facilities near the courthouses''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Carroll |first=Maurice |date=1979-06-14 |title=State to Lease Rikers for 99 Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/14/archives/state-to-lease-rikers-for-99-years.html |access-date=2026-02-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In July 1979, controversy surrounding the lease of Rikers rose. A new report indicated operating costs would increase and faulted some of Sturz's Rikers report. The lease deal with the state was in jeopardy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Raab |first=Selwyn |date=1979-07-16 |title=Reports Say Rikers I. Lease Will Increase City's Costs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/16/archives/reports-say-rikers-i-lease-will-increase-citys-costs-construction.html |access-date=2026-02-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Sturz became NYC Planning Commission Chairman in December 1979 and the effort to close Rikers by selling it to the State was shelved.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Quindlen |first=Anna |date=1979-12-28 |title=Sturz 'Going In With Modest Confidence' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/28/archives/sturz-going-in-with-modest-confidence-small-matters-and-large.html |access-date=2026-02-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
In February 2016, the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, also known as the Lippman Commission, since it is chaired by former Chief Judge of the State of New York Jonathan Lippman, was convened by New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to review the entirety of the city's criminal justice system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=More Just NYC |url=http://www.morejustnyc.com/#home-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522172757/http://www.morejustnyc.com/#home-1 |archive-date=May 22, 2017 |access-date=May 15, 2017}}</ref>
According to Lippman, Sturz laid the groundwork for the Commission in December 2015 and January 2016 by taking Lippman to speak with NYC mayor Bill de Blasio and many others inside and outside of city government. Once appointed, Lippman spoke with Sturz on a daily basis on who should be members and how to fund the commission.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lippman |first=Jonathan |title=The PUrsuit of Justice: A Tribute of the Life and Work of Herb Sturz |publisher=Recycled Paper Printing. Vera Institute of Justice |year=2017 |editor-last=Turner |editor-first=Nicholas R. |location=New York |pages=72–74}}</ref>
In April of that year, Glenn E. Martin launched a campaign that called for the closure of the Rikers Island Jail Complex. In September 2016, the campaign organized a march from Queens Plaza to the Rikers Island Bridge, calling on then-Mayor Bill de Blasio to close the complex.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nicholas, JB |date=September 26, 2016 |title=Hundreds March to Demand Shut Down of Rikers Island |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/slideshow/hundreds-march-to-demand-shut-down-of-rikers-island-9152605 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129125003/http://www.villagevoice.com/slideshow/hundreds-march-to-demand-shut-down-of-rikers-island-9152605 |archive-date=January 29, 2017 |access-date=May 14, 2017 |newspaper=Village Voice}}</ref>
In the months following, plans had been made to build an additional facility on the island that consisted of 1,500 beds. In November 2016, New York City Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte said, "As we look at construction and now with the...kind of the movement to close Rikers all those things politically have to be taken into consideration. So the 1,500-bed facility on Rikers is still at...at a kind of pause right now".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nicholas |first=JB |date=November 18, 2016 |title=Construction of New Rikers Jail Is Officially 'On Pause' |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/construction-of-new-rikers-jail-is-officially-on-pause-9360062 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222192506/http://www.villagevoice.com/news/construction-of-new-rikers-jail-is-officially-on-pause-9360062 |archive-date=February 22, 2017 |access-date=May 14, 2017 |work=Village Voice}}</ref>
After a year of consideration, the Lippmann Commission released a report of recommendations for closing the jail complex.<ref name="unveils">{{Cite news |last=Corasaniti |first=Nick |date=April 2, 2017 |title=Rikers Island Commission Unveils Plan to Shut Down Jail Complex |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/02/nyregion/rikers-island-jail-closure-plan.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403041044/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/02/nyregion/rikers-island-jail-closure-plan.html |archive-date=April 3, 2017 |access-date=May 13, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> De Blasio did not specifically endorse the findings of the commission.<ref name="Goodman 2017">{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=J. David |date=March 31, 2017 |title=Mayor Backs Plan to Close Rikers and Open Jails Elsewhere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-is-said-to-back-plan-to-close-jails-on-rikers-island.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404001620/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-is-said-to-back-plan-to-close-jails-on-rikers-island.html |archive-date=April 4, 2017 |access-date=April 3, 2017 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> The Lippman Commission proposed a 10-year plan to close the ten jails currently on the island and replace them with smaller jails, one in each borough closer to the courthouses.<ref name="letitia">{{Cite news |last=Durkin, Erin and Blau, Reuven |date=April 2, 2017 |title=Letitia James wants Rikers Island renamed for Kalief Browder if notorious jail is shuttered |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/letitia-james-rikers-island-renamed-kalief-browder-article-1.3016864 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508020004/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/letitia-james-rikers-island-renamed-kalief-browder-article-1.3016864 |archive-date=May 8, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=New York Daily News}}</ref> The population at Rikers Island would have to decrease from current average of 10,000 to approximately 5,000.<ref name=unveils/> According to The Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, key strategies in shrinking the Rikers population have included addressing causes of case delays, identifying individuals that could be granted alternatives to jail time, and improving programming and discharge services. Since 1991, the Rikers population has dropped by more than 50%, when the average daily population was 21,688.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Safely Reducing the New York City Jail Population |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/criminaljustice/work/jail-population.page |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517145943/http://www1.nyc.gov/site/criminaljustice/work/jail-population.page |archive-date=May 17, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |website=www1.nyc.gov}}</ref> The idea of closing the prison complex within 10 years was endorsed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio on March 31, after the ''New York Post'' leaked the findings of the Lippman Commission.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodman |first=J. David |date=March 31, 2017 |title=Mayor Backs Plan to Close Rikers and Open Jails Elsewhere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-is-said-to-back-plan-to-close-jails-on-rikers-island.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170514031825/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-is-said-to-back-plan-to-close-jails-on-rikers-island.html |archive-date=May 14, 2017 |access-date=May 14, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |last2=Rosenberg |first2=Rebecca |last3=Golding |first3=Bruce |date=March 31, 2017 |title=New York City to close Rikers Island |url=https://nypost.com/2017/03/31/de-blasio-to-announce-support-for-plan-to-close-rikers-island/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402231705/http://nypost.com/2017/03/31/de-blasio-to-announce-support-for-plan-to-close-rikers-island/ |archive-date=April 2, 2017 |access-date=April 3, 2017 |work=New York Post}}</ref>
One possible reuse proposal was to build a low-rise residential development, although the island's distance from mass transit, proximity to LaGuardia Airport, and leakage of toxic methane gas from its landfill base would pose problems for the proposed development. It would also mean that each residential unit would cost about twice as much to construct as a normal unit in New York City. The residential development would connect the island to the mainland for the expansion of the airport, using it as a park, for solid-waste management or for manufacturing.<ref name="Schapiro 2017" /> However, the commission specifically ruled out its use for private residences.<ref name="Schapiro 2017" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lippman Commission |date=March 31, 2017 |title=A More Just New York City: Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform |url=http://www.ncsc.org/epi209 |access-date=April 3, 2017 |publisher=Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform |pages=98–123}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In light of possible closure of the jail complex, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James suggested renaming the island after Kalief Browder, an inmate who committed suicide after being jailed at Rikers.<ref name="letitia" />
Another possibility for reuse of the island after closure of the jail complex would be to build an expansion of nearby LaGuardia Airport. According to a 2017 city-sponsored report, incorporating Rikers Island into the airport's footprint would allow for the construction of a new, longer runway and additional terminal space, resulting in an estimated 40% increase of flight capacity.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mutzabaugh |first=Ben |title=A Rikers Island terminal for LaGuardia Airport? |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2017/04/04/proposal-laguardia-could-grow-taking-over-rikers-island/100016448/ |access-date=August 23, 2024 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>
On June 22, 2017, former Mayor de Blasio released his plan for a 10-year shutdown of the facility, saying that it was not a "quick fix": "This will be a long a difficult path," he wrote. The city will reduce the inmate population of Rikers through the use of alternative facilities and reforms such as making the payment of bail easier and improving mental health facilities and programs. Two "diversion centers" will assist people with mental health problems and will work with police to find options other than incarceration. Smaller jail facilities will be open throughout the city, but the plan does not fully describe how, where, and when that will occur.<ref name="plan">Honan, Katie (June 22, 2017) [https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170622/east-elmhurst/rikers-island-closure-mayor-bill-de-blasio-plan-department-of-correction "Mayor Releases 'Long and Difficult' Plan to Shutter Rikers in 10 Years"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622191112/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170622/east-elmhurst/rikers-island-closure-mayor-bill-de-blasio-plan-department-of-correction|date=June 22, 2017}} ''DNAinfo''</ref> alt=Organizations and advocates stand in rows on the steps of New York City Hall, holding signs with the names of people who have been killed while at Rikers Island|thumb|Press conference and rally to close Rikers after a string of inmate deaths The New York State Commission of Correction, which oversees New York City's jails, issued a report in February 2018 citing numerous violations in the facility on the part of the city and a significant increase in violent incidents from 2016 to 2017. It suggested that the state might move to close Rikers Island before the city's 10-year deadline, which is not legally binding.<ref>Foderaro, Lisa W. (February 14, 2018) [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/nyregion/rikers-island-jail-closing-timeline.html "New York State May Move to Close Rikers Ahead of City's 10-Year Timeline"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717013152/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/nyregion/rikers-island-jail-closing-timeline.html |date=July 17, 2018 }} ''The New York Times''</ref> On October 17, 2019, the City Council voted for an over $8 billion plan to close the Rikers Island prisons and other New York City jails by 2026,<ref name="NYCC20191017">{{Cite web |date=October 17, 2019 |title=Council Votes on Historic Legislation to Close Rikers Island |url=https://council.nyc.gov/press/2019/10/17/1818/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211171242/https://council.nyc.gov/press/2019/10/17/1818/ |archive-date=February 11, 2020 |access-date=January 15, 2023 |publisher=New York City Council |language=en-US}}</ref> and replace them with four borough-based jails.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Trotta |first=Daniel |date=October 18, 2019 |title=New York city council votes to close infamous Rikers Island jails |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-rikers-idUSKBN1WW2ZW |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018005229/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-rikers-idUSKBN1WW2ZW |archive-date=October 18, 2019 |access-date=October 18, 2019 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref> New prisons are planned, but council members said that a move from arrests to tickets, not prosecuting misdemeanors, and a state law set to eliminate cash bail for misdemeanors would reduce the need for jails.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 17, 2019 |title=NYC Lawmakers Approve Plan to Close Rikers Island by 2026 |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-City-Council-Vote-Thursday-on-Rikers-Island-563273012.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018205629/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-City-Council-Vote-Thursday-on-Rikers-Island-563273012.html |archive-date=October 18, 2019 |access-date=October 18, 2019 |website=NBC New York |language=en}}</ref>
In 2025, the Eric Adams administration authored an executive order to re-establish an office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal law enforcement agencies on the island after a 10-year hiatus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kramer |first=Marcia |date=April 9, 2025 |title=Adams administration will allow ICE to open office on Rikers Island |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/ice-rikers-island-office/ |access-date=May 9, 2025 |website=CBS News |language=en-US}}</ref> On May 13, 2025, federal judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the complex to be run by an official reporting directly to the court. Swain found that the current management system could not remedy the issues sufficiently quickly and that the city had not complied with court orders for years, sometimes in ways that seemed like bad faith.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crudele |first=Mark |date=May 13, 2025 |title=Judge seizes control of New York City's Rikers Island jail complex |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-seizes-control-new-york-citys-rikers-island/story?id=121758170 |access-date=May 13, 2025 |work=ABC News}}</ref>
==Abuse, neglect, and murder of detainees== Rikers Island has become notorious in recent years for a "culture of abuse",<ref name="CRIPA investigation" /> and has been subject to a number of investigations and rulings.
===Rulings related to strip searches=== In 1986, a federal appeals court ruled that strip searches could not be performed on people arrested on misdemeanor charges, like fare evasion on the subway, or marijuana smoking. The case itself was brought by Ann Weber, who was arrested for making an inflated claim on a 911 call, after her son was attacked while leaving her daughter's wedding. She was brought to jail still dressed in formal wedding attire, locked in a cell, and forced to strip and expose her cavities for search in the hour it took for her daughter to arrive and post bail.<ref name="Weber v. Dell">{{Cite journal |last=United States Court of Appeals |first=Second Circuit |date=November 6, 1986 |title=Weber v. Dell (11-6-1986) |url=http://openjurist.org/804/f2d/796 |url-status=live |volume=F2d |issue=804 |pages=796 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105202722/http://openjurist.org/804/f2d/796 |archive-date=November 5, 2014 |access-date=November 5, 2014 |website=Open Jurist}}</ref>
Prior to this decision, all prisoners taken to Rikers, no matter the level of their accusation, were strip searched. These searches often took place in groups of 10 to 12 and involved genital and anal searches. Despite the court's ruling, the practice lived on, costing New York City a total of $81 million in settlements to the victims of these illegal searches. In 2001, a ruling was reached in New York reinforcing the illegality of strip searches for misdemeanor detainees, and demanding that the city pay up to $50 million to the tens of thousands of people who were illegally searched over the years.<ref name="Strip Searches NY TIMES 2007">{{Cite news |last=Feuer |first=Alan |date=October 5, 2007 |title=City to Pay Damages for Strip Searches |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/nyregion/05strip.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105225440/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/nyregion/05strip.html?_r=0 |archive-date=November 5, 2014 |access-date=November 5, 2014 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
However, the practice did not die. Another suit was filed against the city in 2007 for performing strip searches on inmates taken to Rikers on misdemeanor charges. On October 4, 2007, the New York City Department of Corrections conceded that tens of thousands of nonviolent inmates taken to Rikers Island on misdemeanor charges had been wrongly strip-searched in violation of a 2002 court settlement, and were entitled to payment for damages. The policy was kept in place despite a United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling in 2001 that strip-searches of misdemeanor suspects were illegal, unless officials suspected that they were carrying contraband..." [Lead lawyer Richard D.] Emery charged in his papers that department officials "repeatedly resorted to lying to cover up deliberate indifference to the continued practice of humiliating detainees by forcing them to strip naked in groups."<ref name="Strip Searches NY TIMES 2007" /> This class action suit won $33 million in damages.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Matt |date=February 15, 2011 |title=$33 Million Settlement in New York City Jails Strip Search Class-Action |url=https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2011/feb/15/33-million-settlement-in-new-york-city-jails-strip-search-class-action/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |work=Prison Legal News}}</ref>
===Inmates as enforcers=== In February 2008, correctional officer Lloyd Nicholson was indicted after he allegedly used a select group of teenage inmates as enforcers under a regime called "the program", as well as allegedly beating inmates himself. However, "the program" has been known to exist for well over a decade and is unique to the adolescents. The inmates use it as a test for other inmates and a system of control amongst themselves.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rayman |first=Graham |date=April 8, 2008 |title=Rikers Island Fight Club |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-04-08/news/rikers-fight-club/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911231222/http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-04-08/news/rikers-fight-club/ |archive-date=September 11, 2011 |access-date=April 23, 2010 |work=The Village Voice}}</ref>
A ''Village Voice'' article lists a roll call of 2008 scandals at Rikers, including the case of officers who allegedly passed accused cop killer Lee Woods marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol; the February indictment of correctional officer Lloyd Nicholson who used inmates as "enforcers", and the April 27 suicide of 18-year-old Steven Morales (who allegedly killed his infant daughter) in the high-security closed-custody unit.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rayman |first=Graham |date=May 27, 2008 |title=A Short Life Ends on Rikers Island, in a Place Where Suicide Isn't Supposed to Happen |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/a-short-life-ends-on-rikers-island-in-a-place-where-suicide-isnt-supposed-to-happen-6388311 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826062220/http://www.villagevoice.com/news/a-short-life-ends-on-rikers-island-in-a-place-where-suicide-isnt-supposed-to-happen-6388311 |archive-date=August 26, 2016 |access-date=April 22, 2016 |work=The Village Voice}}</ref>
On February 4, 2009, ''The New York Times'' reported that "the pattern of cases suggests that city correctional officials have been aware of a problem in which Rikers guards have acquiesced or encouraged violence among inmates." The ''Times'' added that "There have been at least seven lawsuits filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan accusing guards of complicity or acquiescence in inmate violence at Rikers, a complex of 10 detention facilities which, along with several other jails around the city, hold about 13,000 prisoners, most of whom are pretrial detainees. None of the seven suits has gone to trial. In the three that were settled, the city admitted no liability or wrongdoing."<ref name="NYTFeb3">{{Cite news |last=Weiser |first=Benjamin |date=February 3, 2009 |title=Lawsuits Suggest Pattern of Rikers Guards Looking Other Way |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/nyregion/04rikers.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713221535/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/nyregion/04rikers.html |archive-date=July 13, 2017 |access-date=February 4, 2009 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
===Sexual assault=== {{over-quotation|date=January 2024}} In an alleged July 2008 rape case reported by ''The Village Voice'' on August 5, 2008, the alleged victim claimed "that someone entered her cell in the 1,000-bed Rose M. Singer Center while she was asleep, sometime before 6 a.m. on July 3. She says the intruder (or intruders) bound and gagged her with bedsheets and then used a dildo-like object to sexually assault her. Other inmates may have acted as lookouts during the alleged assault. The woman, who was being held on grand-larceny charges for the past three months, was discovered at about 6 a.m. by an officer and a captain who were touring the building. The officer saw her lying on her back on the floor of her cell with bedsheets wrapped around her neck, mouth, and legs. She had also been blindfolded. The incident was reported to central command at 7:30 a.m., and the woman was transported to the Elmhurst Hospital Center. Because she didn't share a cell with anyone, a major question is how the alleged assault happened in the first place. Officials have not talked about the investigation, and there's no word on whether any arrests have been made."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rayman |first=Graham |date=August 5, 2008 |title=Woman-on-Woman Rape Claim at Rikers |url=http://villagevoice.com/2008-08-05/news/woman-on-woman-rape-claim-at-rikers/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325071628/http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-08-05/news/woman-on-woman-rape-claim-at-rikers |archive-date=March 25, 2010 |access-date=April 23, 2010 |work=The Village Voice}}</ref>{{update inline|date=January 2024}}
===Officer brutality=== On June 1, 2007, Captain Sherman Graham and Assistant Deputy Warden Gail Lewis were arrested by the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) for covering up an assault on an inmate.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/downloads/pdf/pr41graham_6012007.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031141623/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/downloads/pdf/pr41graham_6012007.pdf |archive-date=October 31, 2012 |access-date=May 19, 2012}}</ref> The arrest came after both were indicted by a Bronx grand jury. It is alleged that on October 4, 2006, Graham assaulted an inmate after he refused to comply with strip searching procedures at the Robert N. Davoren Center (RNDC, C-74). The assault occurred in front of 15 correctional academy recruits in training.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2007027 Friday, June 1, 2007 |url=http://bronxda.nyc.gov/information/2007/case27.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031141613/http://bronxda.nyc.gov/information/2007/case27.htm |archive-date=October 31, 2012 |access-date=August 19, 2013 |publisher=Bronxda.nyc.gov}}</ref> After the assault, Graham ordered the recruits to write on their Use of Force Witness Reports that Graham assaulted the inmate in self-defense after the inmate punched Graham. Lewis, who was Graham's supervisor, did not intervene to stop the attack. Lewis also submitted a false Use of Force Witness Report. Charges against Graham include 16 counts of falsifying business records, 16 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, 16 counts of official misconduct, a class A misdemeanor and one count of attempted assault in the third degree. Lewis was charged with falsifying business records, offering a false instrument for filing and official misconduct. The investigation started when the DOI received a tip following an anti-corruption presentation at the academy in October 2006 on the day before graduation.<ref name=":3" />
Graham and Lewis were found guilty on all charges by a Bronx jury on May 14, 2012.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fractenberg, Ben |date=May 15, 2012 |title=Rikers Island Supervisors Found Guilty of Covering Up Prisoner Assault – Hunts Point |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120515/hunts-point/rikers-island-supervisors-found-guilty-of-covering-up-prisoner-assault |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614034108/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120515/hunts-point/rikers-island-supervisors-found-guilty-of-covering-up-prisoner-assault |archive-date=June 14, 2013 |access-date=August 19, 2013 |work=Dnainfo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/downloads/pdf/may12/pr13graham_lewis_51412.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031141619/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/downloads/pdf/may12/pr13graham_lewis_51412.pdf |archive-date=October 31, 2012 |access-date=May 19, 2012}}</ref> It took the jury approximately three hours to deliberate a guilty verdict. Lewis was able to retire in December 2009 with her pension.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rayman |first=Graham |date=May 14, 2012 |title=Gail Lewis, Sherman Graham, Jail Supervisors Convicted For Covering Up a Fight |url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/05/gail_lewis_sher.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023043636/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/05/gail_lewis_sher.php |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=August 19, 2013 |website=Village Voice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Greg B. |date=May 14, 2012 |title=Class in how not to cover up goof at jail |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rikers-correction-officer-deputy-warden-convicted-coverup-inmate-beating-article-1.1078304 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518144945/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rikers-correction-officer-deputy-warden-convicted-coverup-inmate-beating-article-1.1078304 |archive-date=May 18, 2012 |access-date=May 19, 2012 |work=Daily News |location=New York}}</ref> Graham was terminated from the Department of Correction following the guilty verdict. Each faced up to four years in prison,<ref>{{Cite web |title=015-2012 Monday, May 14, 2012 |url=http://bronxda.nyc.gov/information/2012/case15.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031141609/http://bronxda.nyc.gov/information/2012/case15.htm |archive-date=October 31, 2012 |access-date=August 19, 2013 |publisher=Bronxda.nyc.gov}}</ref> however, Graham and Lewis were both sentenced to 500 hours of community service and ordered to pay $1,000.00 in fines on August 7, 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.news12.com/articleDetail.jsp?articleId=329857&position=1&news_type=news |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 1, 2012 |archive-date=May 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523215912/https://www.news12.com/articleDetail.jsp?articleId=329857&position=1&news_type=news |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Solitary confinement=== The New York City Department of Correction reported that in fiscal year 2012 more than 14.4 percent of adolescents detained at Rikers Island between the ages of 16 and 18 were held in at least one period of solitary confinement while detained.<ref>{{Cite book |last=ACLU/Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us1012ForUpload.pdf |title=Growing Up Locked Down: Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons in the United States |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-56432-949-3 |location=United States of America |pages=131–132 |access-date=December 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214015309/https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us1012ForUpload.pdf |archive-date=December 14, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> The average length of time young people spent in solitary confinement at Rikers Island was 43 days. More than 48 percent of adolescents at this institution have diagnosed mental health problems.<ref>{{Cite book |last=ACLU/Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us1012ForUpload.pdf |title=Growing Up Locked Down: Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons in the United States |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-56432-949-3 |location=United States of America |page=132 |access-date=December 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214015309/https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us1012ForUpload.pdf |archive-date=December 14, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On August 28, 2014, a law was passed boosting oversight of the use of solitary confinement at Rikers Island, following intense public outcry after various abuses at the prison. The law requires the prison to publish quarterly reports on their use of solitary confinement, but did not include provisions regarding the protection of prisoners against guard brutality or limiting the use of solitary confinement as a punishment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schwirtz |first=Michael |date=2014-08-28 |title=Law Boosts Oversight of Use of Solitary Confinement at Rikers Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/nyregion/new-law-boosts-oversight-of-use-of-solitary-confinement-at-rikers.html |access-date=2026-04-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
The solitary confinement unit at Rikers is commonly referred to as "Bing", the inmates kept there known as "Bing monsters".<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 5, 2014 |title=Bing Time: What It's Like To Be 16 & In Solitary On Rikers Island |url=http://gothamist.com/2014/08/05/teen_solitary_rikers_jail.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619020957/http://gothamist.com/2014/08/05/teen_solitary_rikers_jail.php |archive-date=June 19, 2017 |access-date=April 1, 2017 |website=Gothamist}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Connelly |first=Sherryl |date=September 19, 2015 |title=Former Rikers mental health worker details horror in book |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rikers-mental-health-worker-details-horror-book-article-1.2367079 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318001157/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rikers-mental-health-worker-details-horror-book-article-1.2367079 |archive-date=March 18, 2017 |access-date=April 1, 2017 |website=New York Daily News}}</ref>
====Kalief Browder==== Kalief Browder was accused of stealing a backpack at the age of 16. His family was unable to make his $3,000 bail, later being unable to post bail due to a probation violation. Browder was imprisoned without trial or conviction for three years, his trial postponed on numerous occasions. The case was eventually dismissed, and Browder was released in June 2013 by Judge Patricia DiMango<ref name="Browder">{{Cite news |last=Gonnerman |first=Jennifer |date=October 6, 2014 |title=Before the Law |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/law-3?src=longreads |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003054700/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/law-3?src=longreads |archive-date=October 3, 2014 |access-date=October 4, 2014 |work=The New Yorker |location=New York City}}</ref> after numerous postponements and 31 hearings in front of judges.<ref name="abc1">{{Cite news |last=Wallace |first=Sarah |date=November 7, 2013 |title=Exclusive: Teenager Spends 3 Years in Jail and Charges Dropped |url=http://7online.com/archive/9317078/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612140450/http://7online.com/archive/9317078/ |archive-date=June 12, 2015 |access-date=February 14, 2017 |work=WABC 7 New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Scherker |first=Amanda |date=November 26, 2013 |title=Teen thrown in violent New York jail for years without ever having been convicted |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/kalief-browder-rikers-teen-violent-new-york-prison_n_4302360.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212113013/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/kalief-browder-rikers-teen-violent-new-york-prison_n_4302360.html |archive-date=February 12, 2015 |access-date=January 3, 2015 |work=Huffington Post}}</ref> For two of those years, Browder was held in solitary confinement or punitive segregation.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |last=Ford |first=Matt |date=June 18, 2015 |title=Justice Kennedy denounces solitary confinement |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/kalief-browder-justice-kennedy-solitary-confinement/396320/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108024503/http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/kalief-browder-justice-kennedy-solitary-confinement/396320/ |archive-date=January 8, 2016 |access-date=January 3, 2016 |work=The Atlantic}}</ref> He was profiled in ''The New Yorker'' in October 2014 for being held for three years on Rikers Island without a trial.<ref name="Browder" />
On June 6, 2015, Browder died by suicide by hanging.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Gonnerman |first=Jennifer |date=June 7, 2015 |title=Kalief Browder, 1993–2015 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216195542/http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015 |archive-date=February 16, 2017 |access-date=February 14, 2017 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref><ref name="lati">{{Cite news |last=Pearce |first=Matt |date=June 7, 2015 |title=Kalief Browder, jailed for 3 years in N.Y. without a trial, commits suicide |url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-york-kalief-browder-20150607-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302162325/http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-york-kalief-browder-20150607-story.html |archive-date=March 2, 2017 |access-date=February 14, 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> The conditions of his detention were widely seen as having caused his mental condition. He had multiple prior suicide attempts while incarcerated. Days after his death, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy invoked Browder's experience in his opinion on ''Davis v. Ayala''.<ref name="auto" /> On January 25, 2016, President Barack Obama wrote an article in ''The Washington Post'' criticizing the "overuse" of solitary confinement in American jails, basing his arguments largely on Browder's case. He signed an executive order banning solitary confinement of juveniles in federal prisons.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 25, 2015 |title=Barack Obama: Why we must rethink solitary confinement |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/barack-obama-why-we-must-rethink-solitary-confinement/2016/01/25/29a361f2-c384-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224173725/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/barack-obama-why-we-must-rethink-solitary-confinement/2016/01/25/29a361f2-c384-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html |archive-date=February 24, 2017 |access-date=February 14, 2017 |work=The Washington Post}}</ref>
===Treatment of mentally ill=== In 2014, Mayor de Blasio began to take action against the abuse by adding surveillance cameras and improving care for mentally ill prisoners.<ref name="NYT 11/20">{{Cite news |last=Winerip |first=Michael |last2=Schwartz |first2=Michael |name-list-style=amp |date=November 20, 2014 |title=Mayor de Blasio Urges 'Culture Change' at Rikers Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/nyregion/rikers-needs-culture-change-mayor-de-blasio-says.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210070552/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/nyregion/rikers-needs-culture-change-mayor-de-blasio-says.html?_r=0 |archive-date=December 10, 2014 |access-date=November 30, 2014 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
On September 29, 2014, Judge Tynia Richard offered a sharp rebuke to the Department of Corrections, recommending that six correctional officers be fired. This group, led by Captain Budnarine Behari, had participated in the brutal beating of Robert Hinton, a mentally ill inmate, while he was hog-tied, because he had protested being moved from his cell by sitting down. Hinton's fellow inmates watched as he was dragged down the hallways while hog-tied to a solitary confinement cell where he was beaten. While this ruling was one of the most severe against the Department of Corrections in many years, almost two years had elapsed between the beating and the Justice Department's ruling, during which time the perpetrators in this attack were involved in more inmate beatings at Rikers Island.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Winerip |first=Michael |date=September 29, 2014 |title=In Rare Rebuke for Rikers Officers, Judge Urges Firing of 6 Who Beat Inmate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/nyregion/in-rare-decision-judge-urges-firing-for-6-rikers-island-officers-who-beat-inmate.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006184855/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/nyregion/in-rare-decision-judge-urges-firing-for-6-rikers-island-officers-who-beat-inmate.html |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=September 29, 2014 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Schwirtz |first=Michael |date=August 4, 2014 |title=U.S. Inquiry Finds a 'Culture of Violence' Against Teenage Inmates at Rikers Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/nyregion/us-attorneys-office-reveals-civil-rights-investigation-at-rikers-island.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313172312/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/nyregion/us-attorneys-office-reveals-civil-rights-investigation-at-rikers-island.html?_r=0 |archive-date=March 13, 2017 |access-date=February 12, 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
===Treatment of LGBT inmates=== The segregated unit at Rikers for LGBT prisoners, known as "gay housing", was closed in December 2005 citing a need to improve security.<ref name="Myth">{{Cite web |title=Arrested justice: When LGBT People Land in Jail Part Four: The Myth of 'Protective Custody' |url=http://transgenderlawcenter.org/new/index.php/updates/press-releases/meeting-to-highlight-issues-faced-by-lgbt-people-in-california-prisons/108 |access-date=December 28, 2008 |publisher=Patrick Letellier, Gay.com}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The unit had opened in the 1970s due to concerns about abuse of LGBT prisoners in pretrial detention. The New York City Department of Correction's widely criticized plan was to restructure the classification of prisoners and create a new protective custody system which would include 23-hour-per-day lockdown (identical to that mandated for disciplinary reasons) for moving vulnerable inmates to other facilities.<ref name="Rikers">{{Cite news |date=December 30, 2005 |title=Closure of Gay Housing at Rikers Draws Complaints |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-30-na-rikers30-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618193232/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/dec/30/nation/na-rikers30 |archive-date=June 18, 2009 |access-date=December 28, 2008 |work=Los Angeles Times |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Whereas formerly all that was required was a declaration of homosexuality or the appearance of being transgender, inmates wanting protective custody would now be required to request it in a special hearing.<ref name="NY">{{Cite news |last=Von Zielbauer |first=Paul |date=December 30, 2005 |title=City Prepares to Close Rikers Housing for Gays |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/30/nyregion/new-york-set-to-close-jail-unit-for-gays.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825002410/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/30/nyregion/new-york-set-to-close-jail-unit-for-gays.html |archive-date=August 25, 2018 |access-date=August 24, 2018 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> "In 2015, city corrections officials opened what was then called the Transgender Housing Unit. Many detainees didn't know about or couldn't get into the dorm, which could only house a few dozen, but nonetheless it was one of just a handful of such specialized facilities across the country. Three years later, spurred by LGBTQ+ advocates, the mayor's office announced that the Department of Correction would house incarcerated people consistent with their gender identity."<ref name="thecity.nyc">{{Cite web |last=Joseph |first=George |date=January 24, 2023 |title=Under Adams, a Rikers Unit That Protected Trans Women Has Collapsed |url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/1/24/23567498/rikers-lgbtq-trans-eric-adams-corrections |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218221622/https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/1/24/23567498/rikers-lgbtq-trans-eric-adams-corrections |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=The City}}</ref>
"Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain, swept into the mayor's office promising a pro-law enforcement agenda that included supporting the old guard that had long decided how things ran on the island. Adams replaced the reform-minded jails commissioner Vincent Schiraldi with his own pick, Louis Molina, whose administration immediately pushed out top department leaders supportive of the LGBTQ+ unit and shelved a draft policy directive aimed at getting more trans and gender-nonconforming detainees into gender-aligned housing. This institutional reversal has stranded numerous trans and gender-nonconforming detainees in dangerous, male housing units for weeks or months on end, subjecting many to egregious forms of physical and sexual violence, according to dozens of internal emails, Department of Correction records, and interviews with more than 20 people who work or live in city jails, including current and former corrections staffers, incarcerated trans women, jail guards and attorneys."<ref name="thecity.nyc" />
===Federal investigation=== In August 2014, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, issued a report condemning the systematic abuse and violation of prisoners' constitutional rights. Despite this and many other egregious incidents of abuse, few correctional officers have been prosecuted successfully or even removed from their positions. Also in August 2014, Bharara issued a damning report on the treatment of juvenile prisoners at Rikers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bharara |first=Preet |date=August 4, 2014 |title=CRIPA Investigation of the New York City Department of Correction Jails on Rikers Island |url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-sdny/legacy/2015/03/25/SDNY%20Rikers%20Report.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926165752/https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-sdny/legacy/2015/03/25/SDNY%20Rikers%20Report.pdf |archive-date=September 26, 2016 |access-date=August 5, 2016 |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice}}</ref> The report identified "a pattern and practice of conduct at Rikers that violates the constitutional rights of adolescent inmates". The report describes the "rampant use of unnecessary and excessive force by DOC staff", as well as dangers to inmates including inadequate protection from violence caused by other inmates, a culture that uses violence as a means to control inmates, and heavy use of solitary confinement ("punitive segregation") for discipline. The report details the guards' frequent use of violence, including "headshots" (blows to the head or face), particularly in areas without video surveillance. This violence is perpetrated as punishment or retribution against the inmates, or "In response to inmates' verbal altercations with officers".<ref name="CRIPA investigation">{{Cite news |last=U.S. Department of Justice |first=US Attorney Bharara |date=August 4, 2014 |title=CRIPA Investigation of the New York City Department of Correction Jails on Rikers Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/05/nyregion/05rikers-report.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103080437/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/05/nyregion/05rikers-report.html |archive-date=November 3, 2014 |access-date=November 5, 2014 |work=New York Times}}</ref>
===COVID-19 crisis=== During the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, inmates at Rikers were unable to follow the safety measures suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to avoid contracting COVID-19. Inmates, correctional officers, the DOT, and the head doctor at Rikers warned that better precautionary measures should be put in place, and that non-violent inmates should be released, making arguments in the name of public health.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ransom |first=Jan |last2=Feuer |first2=Alan |date=March 30, 2020 |title='We're Left for Dead': Fears of Virus Catastrophe at Rikers Jail |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/nyregion/coronavirus-rikers-nyc-jail.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401222706/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/nyregion/coronavirus-rikers-nyc-jail.html |archive-date=April 1, 2020 |access-date=April 2, 2020 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bryant |first=Miranda |date=April 1, 2020 |title=Coronavirus spread at Rikers is a 'public health disaster', says jail's top doctor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/01/rikers-island-jail-coronavirus-public-health-disaster |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402011039/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/01/rikers-island-jail-coronavirus-public-health-disaster |archive-date=April 2, 2020 |access-date=April 2, 2020 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> One inmate said, "The hygiene in here is really nasty. There are roaches and mice in the dorms and rats in the hallway. It's a good place for disease to hang out. I don't want to be kept in here for this whole coronavirus thing. I plan to do my whole sentence, that's fine, but this is just crazy."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Guerguerian |first=Amba |date=March 29, 2020 |title=A View From Inside Rikers Island, Where Coronavirus is Spreading Behind Bars |url=https://indypendent.org/2020/03/a-view-from-inside-rikers-island-where-coronavirus-is-spreading-behind-bars/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403200607/https://indypendent.org/2020/03/a-view-from-inside-rikers-island-where-coronavirus-is-spreading-behind-bars/ |archive-date=April 3, 2020 |access-date=April 2, 2020 |website=The Indypendent}}</ref> On March 22, 2020, it was reported that two dorms of 45 inmates each were carrying out a strike in protest of the lack of PPE, social distancing, and cleaning supplies, and demanding the release of all inmates who met the criteria specified by the Board of Correction.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=David |date=May 1, 2020 |title=Stick-up on Rikers Island |url=https://hardcrackers.com/stickup-on-rikers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220162637/https://hardcrackers.com/stickup-on-rikers/ |archive-date=December 20, 2020 |access-date=December 31, 2020 |website=Hard Crackers}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1242121199938912263 |user=macc_nyc |title=*STRIKE AT RIKERS* Incarcerated individuals are still striking at Rikers |author=MACC NYC |date=March 23, 2020}}</ref> In summer 2020, about 2500 inmates were released from Rikers on early COVID Release.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Russo |first=Melissa |date=June 12, 2020 |title=NYPD Brass: We're Arresting Too Many Prisoners on Early COVID Release |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/released-from-rikers-in-covid-measure-man-arrested-4-times-in-3-months/2460035/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229030944/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/released-from-rikers-in-covid-measure-man-arrested-4-times-in-3-months/2460035/ |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |access-date=December 29, 2021 |publisher=NBC New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rodriguez |first=Eddy |date=June 13, 2020 |title=NYC Prisoners Released Early Due to COVID-19 Concerns Were Re-Arrested, Police Say |url=https://www.newsweek.com/nyc-prisoners-released-early-due-covid-19-concerns-have-been-re-arrested-police-say-1510697 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229031135/https://www.newsweek.com/nyc-prisoners-released-early-due-covid-19-concerns-have-been-re-arrested-police-say-1510697 |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |access-date=December 29, 2021 |publisher=Newsweek}}</ref> In February 2021, ''The New York Times'' featured an article by former inmate Michele Evans criticizing the jail's handling of the pandemic.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Michele |date=February 4, 2021 |title=Opinion {{!}} I Got Covid at Rikers. I'm Still Suffering. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/opinion/rikers-jail-covid.html |access-date=December 29, 2023 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> By October 2021, ''The New York Times'' reported that as a result of staff shortages exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, inmates were virtually running the jail and lawlessness, violence and chaos reigned.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ransom |first=Jan |last2=Bromwich |first2=Jonah E. |last3=O'Brien |first3=Rebecca Davis |date=October 11, 2021 |title=Inside Rikers: Dysfunction, Lawlessness and Detainees in Control |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/nyregion/rikers-detainees-correction-officers.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202103916/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/nyregion/rikers-detainees-correction-officers.html |archive-date=February 2, 2022 |access-date=February 2, 2022 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>
==Detainee deaths==
=== Jason Echevarria === On August 18, 2012, inmate Jason Echevarria swallowed a packet of powdered detergent, which had been given to inmates to clean out their cells after there was a leakage of raw sewage from the toilets. Echevarria began vomiting and complaining of severe pain. Terrence Pendergrass, the supervisor of the unit, was told by a correctional officer of Echevarria's condition. According to ''The New York Times'', "... the captain told the officer not to bother him unless 'there was a dead body,' the complaint said". Several correctional officers passed through his unit but he received no medical attention and was found dead in his cell the following morning. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, citing "neglect and denial of medical care".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gullapalli |first=Vaidya |date=2014-12-20 |title=Corrections Officer Found Guilty in Death in a Rikers Island Solitary Cell |url=https://solitarywatch.org/2014/12/20/corrections-officer-found-guilty-in-death-in-a-rikers-island-solitary-cell/ |access-date=2026-04-07 |website=Solitary Watch |language=en-US}}</ref>
Jason Echevarria suffered from bipolar disorder and was housed in the unit reserved for mentally ill inmates. At one point, he had been placed in solitary confinement after several suicide attempts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schwirtz |first=Michael |date=March 24, 2014 |title=U.S. Accuses Rikers Officer of Ignoring Dying Plea |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/nyregion/correction-officer-charged-with-indifference-in-death-of-rikers-island-inmate.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121111407/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/nyregion/correction-officer-charged-with-indifference-in-death-of-rikers-island-inmate.html |archive-date=November 21, 2015 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Terrence Pendergrass was demoted and suspended without pay, following the incident, and in December 2014, he was convicted of one count of denying Echevarria medical care, resulting in death. In June 2015, Terrence Pendergrass was sentenced to five years in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Stephen Rex |date=June 18, 2015 |title=Ex-Rikers captain gets 5 years for letting inmate die |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ex-rikers-captain-5-years-letting-inmate-die-article-1.2262380 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420180514/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ex-rikers-captain-5-years-letting-inmate-die-article-1.2262380 |archive-date=April 20, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=NY Daily News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Brown 2015">{{Cite news |last=Brown, Stephen Rex |date=November 17, 2015 |title=EXCLUSIVE: NYC settles for $3.8M in inmate's poison horror |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/city-settles-4m-rikers-inmate-poison-horror-article-1.2437263 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722000149/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/city-settles-4m-rikers-inmate-poison-horror-article-1.2437263 |archive-date=July 22, 2017 |access-date=July 15, 2017 |work=NY Daily News}}</ref> In November 2015, Echevarria's family was awarded a $3.8 million settlement regarding the matter.<ref name="Brown 2015" />
===Ronald Spear=== In 2012, 52-year-old Ronald Spear was awaiting trial on Rikers Island, and due to kidney failure, he was detained in the North Infirmary Command. He walked with a cane and wore a bracelet that read "risk of fall". On December 19, 2012, Spear left his dormitory and demanded to see a doctor.<ref name=":2" />
Brian Coll, a correctional officer, and Ronald Spear got into an altercation when Spear was told by the doctor that he could not be seen until later that day. Coll began punching Spear in the face and body. According to ''The New York Times'', "Another officer grabbed Mr. Spear and with Mr. Taylor's help [Byron Taylor, former correctional officer], pinned him down. The complaint says Mr. Coll kicked Mr. Spear several times in the head, and knelt down, telling him, 'Remember that I'm the one who did this to you'".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weiser |first=Benjamin |date=September 20, 2016 |title=Rikers Officer Pleads Guilty to Helping Cover Up Fatal '12 Beating of Inmate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/nyregion/rikers-island-beating-ronald-spear.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914063754/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/nyregion/rikers-island-beating-ronald-spear.html |archive-date=September 14, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> When a Rikers Island medical team reached Spear, he was unresponsive, and after failed attempts to revive him, he was pronounced dead. An investigation into the incident found that Coll and two other officers conspired to cover up how Spear died.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Saul |first=Josh |date=December 15, 2016 |title=A Rikers Island guard was found guilty in the beating death of a prisoner |url=http://www.newsweek.com/rikers-island-guard-guilty-beating-death-prisonerbrian-coll-ronald-spear-532577 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525004604/http://www.newsweek.com/rikers-island-guard-guilty-beating-death-prisonerbrian-coll-ronald-spear-532577 |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref>
In 2016, Brian Coll was convicted of one count of death resulting from deprivation of rights under color of law, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of obstruction of justice, one count of filing false forms, and one count of conspiracy to file false forms. He was sentenced for 30 years in prison. Byron Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of perjury for lying to a federal grand jury, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Anthony Torres pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and file false reports, and one count of filing a false report.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2016 |title=Brian Coll, Former Correction Officer At Rikers Island, Convicted In Beating Death Of Inmate Ronald Spear |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/brian-coll-former-correction-officer-rikers-island-convicted-beating-death-inmate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507203117/https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/brian-coll-former-correction-officer-rikers-island-convicted-beating-death-inmate |archive-date=May 7, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref>
===Bradley Ballard=== Bradley Ballard, who suffered from schizophrenia and diabetes, was sent to Rikers in June 2013 on a parole violation for failure to report an address change.<ref name="Weiser">{{Cite news |last=Weiser |first=Benjamin |date=September 27, 2016 |title=City to Pay $5.75 Million Over Death of Mentally Ill Inmate at Rikers Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/nyregion/rikers-island-lawsuit-bradley-ballard.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216090256/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/nyregion/rikers-island-lawsuit-bradley-ballard.html |archive-date=December 16, 2016 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In July, he was sent to the psychiatric prison ward at Bellevue Hospital Center, where he stayed for 38 days before being sent back to Rikers.<ref name="Weiser" />
On September 4, 2013, Ballard was locked in his cell as punishment for making inappropriate gestures at a female correctional officer. According to ''The New York Times'', "the lawsuit said, 'Not a single nurse, doctor or other medical or mental health provider entered his cell'". On September 11, Ballard died at the age of 39, having been confined inside his cell for seven days without access to his medication or medical treatment.<ref name="Weiser" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Greene |first=Leonard |date=April 18, 2016 |title='60 Minutes' vid shows Rikers inmate's gruesome death |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/60-minutes-vid-shows-rikers-inmate-gruesome-death-article-1.2605000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202005047/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/60-minutes-vid-shows-rikers-inmate-gruesome-death-article-1.2605000 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=NY Daily News |language=en}}</ref> When officers finally came to the aid of Ballard, he was naked, unresponsive, and covered in feces. His genitals were swollen and badly infected due to the result of injuries suffered after he tied a band around his penis.<ref>Schapiro, Rich (May 22, 2014) [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/rikers-island-inmate-dies-7-days-cell-report-article-1.1801606#ixzz332uVjjei "Mentally ill Rikers Island inmate dies after languishing in jail cell for 7 days"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529122253/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/rikers-island-inmate-dies-7-days-cell-report-article-1.1801606#ixzz332uVjjei |date=May 29, 2014 }} ''New York Daily News''</ref>
According to ''The New York Times,'' some 129 inmates, 77% of whom were diagnosed as mentally ill, suffered "serious injuries" in altercations with prison guards over an 11-month period in 2013. These injuries were "beyond the capacity" of the prison doctors to treat successfully.<ref>Winerip, Michael and Schwartz, Michael (July 14, 2014). [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/nyregion/rikers-study-finds-prisoners-injured-by-employees.html?_r=1 "Rikers: Where Mental Illness Meets Brutality in Jail"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920092617/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/nyregion/rikers-study-finds-prisoners-injured-by-employees.html?_r=1 |date=September 20, 2017 }} ''The New York Times'' Retrieved July 15, 2014.</ref> Another ''Times'' article stated that "the lawsuit said, 'Rather than provide the critical care required' medical staff and correctional officers 'who knew Mr. Ballard could not survive without medication, essentially stood by and watched as Mr. Ballard languished, deteriorated and ultimately died.{{' "}} In 2016, the city agreed to pay $5.75 million to settle the lawsuit.<ref name="Weiser" />
===Jerome Murdough=== On February 15, 2014, Jerome Murdough, a homeless veteran in jail on an accusation of trespassing, was found dead in his cell. After being in jail for one week, he died from overexposure to heat. His cell was over 100 ˚F, and he had taken prescription drugs which increase sensitivity to heat. Murdough had been complaining for hours about the heat but was ignored by prison guards. Murdough had been arrested for camping out on the stairwell of a New York Housing Authority building during the freezing polar vortex of 2014; his bail was set at $2,500.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pearson |first=Jake |date=March 19, 2014 |title=NYC Inmate "Baked to death" in cell |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/apnewsbreak-nyc-inmate-baked-death-cell |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006161648/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/apnewsbreak-nyc-inmate-baked-death-cell |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=September 29, 2014 |website=AP News |publisher=AP}}</ref> A settlement of $2.25 million occurred.<ref name="Brown 2015" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bankoff |first=Caroline |date=November 1, 2014 |title=NYC Settles Rikers Lawsuit for $2.25 Million |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/11/nyc-settles-rikers-lawsuit-for-225-million.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104213015/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/11/nyc-settles-rikers-lawsuit-for-225-million.html |archive-date=November 4, 2014 |access-date=January 13, 2015 |website=Daily Intelligencer, New York}}</ref>
=== Rolando Perez === In January 2014, Rolando Perez was arrested for petty burglary and awaiting trial at Rikers. Perez suffered from a severe seizure disorder since the age of 16 and had taken medication to control his seizures ever since. Perez was being detained in solitary confinement after getting into a fight with another inmate. In a video obtained by a local television station, Perez is heard screaming for his medication. After being denied anti-seizure medication, at the age of 36, Perez was found dead due to seizure and heart problems.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Leid |first=Carolina |date=November 2, 2016 |title=Exclusive: Man dies in Rikers Island cell, family says he was denied medication |url=http://abc7ny.com/news/exclusive-man-dies-in-rikers-island-cell-family-says-he-was-denied-medication/1584631/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509045958/http://abc7ny.com/news/exclusive-man-dies-in-rikers-island-cell-family-says-he-was-denied-medication/1584631/ |archive-date=May 9, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=ABC7 New York |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2019, Perez's girlfriend was awarded $3.5 million in a settlement over his death.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Parascandola |first=Rocco |date=May 1, 2019 |title=NYC reaches $3.5M settlement with Bronx woman who accused Rikers officers of withholding meds from epileptic boyfriend |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-35-million-settlement-rikers-inmate-died-denied-seizure-meds-20190501-merjdap3mjdv7f562lo4rzsbzu-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125063830/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-35-million-settlement-rikers-inmate-died-denied-seizure-meds-20190501-merjdap3mjdv7f562lo4rzsbzu-story.html |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |access-date=August 9, 2020 |work=NY Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Eugene Castelle === Staten Island native Eugene "Sonny" Castelle was battling an addiction to painkillers when he was arrested in Florida for heroin possession with intent to sell. This arrest was in violation of the terms of a drug-related plea agreement in New York. On November 2, 2016, Castelle was sent to Rikers and was found dead six days later, at the Anna M. Kross Center. An inmate told the ''Daily News'' that Castelle had taken another prisoner's prescription dose of methadone when he died. Castelle was vomiting and struggling to stand. Another inmate helped Castelle to 'the bubble' watch post to ask for medical help. The correctional officer inside was sleeping, and angrily dismissed them both, the inmate said. The following morning, Castelle was found by a correctional officer and medical staff unresponsive and was declared dead seven minutes later.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alcorn |first=Chauncey |last2=Brown |first2=Stephen Rex |date=January 22, 2017 |title=Staten Island mom demands answers about son's Rikers Island death |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-mom-demands-answers-son-rikers-island-death-article-1.2952805 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420184513/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-mom-demands-answers-son-rikers-island-death-article-1.2952805 |archive-date=April 20, 2017 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |work=NY Daily News |language=en}}</ref>
=== Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco === {{Main|Death of Layleen Polanco}}
Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco was a 27-year-old Afro-Latina transgender woman who died at Rikers Island, New York City's main jail complex, on June 7, 2019, in solitary confinement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 13, 2019 |title=Justice for Layleen Polanco: Community Demands Answers After Trans Black Latinx Woman Died at Rikers |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/13/justice_for_layleen_polanco_community_demands |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223430/https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/13/justice_for_layleen_polanco_community_demands |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=Democracy Now!}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tso |first=Tiffany Diane |date=August 13, 2019 |title=Mother of Trans Woman Who Died at Rikers Sues NYC |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/08/240396/layleen-polanco-xtravaganza-suing-nyc-trans-woman-death-rikers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223434/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/08/240396/layleen-polanco-xtravaganza-suing-nyc-trans-woman-death-rikers |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=Refinery29}}</ref><ref name="nbcnews.com">{{Cite web |last=Sosin |first=Kate |date=June 13, 2020 |title=New video reveals trans woman's death at Rikers was preventable, family says |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/new-video-reveals-layleen-polanco-s-death-rikers-was-preventable-n1230951 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223434/https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/new-video-reveals-layleen-polanco-s-death-rikers-was-preventable-n1230951 |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=NBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Diavolo |first=Lucy |date=June 15, 2020 |title=Thousands Demonstrated for Black Trans Lives in Brooklyn |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/brooklyn-liberation-protest-thousands-for-black-trans-lives |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223429/https://www.teenvogue.com/story/brooklyn-liberation-protest-thousands-for-black-trans-lives |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=Teen Vogue}}</ref> After a six-month investigation, the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark found that staff members at the women's facility left Polanco alone for up to 47 minutes, violating requirements to check on prisoners in solitary confinement in 15 minute intervals. It also found that staff members were not criminally responsible for Polanco's death.<ref name="nbcnews.com" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Carrega |first=Christina |date=June 5, 2020 |title='No criminality' found in the death of transgender inmate on Rikers Island: Prosecutor |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/criminality-found-death-transgender-inmate-rikers-island-prosecutor/story?id=71095463 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223434/https://abcnews.go.com/US/criminality-found-death-transgender-inmate-rikers-island-prosecutor/story?id=71095463 |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=ABC News}}</ref>
A video of the incident revealed that multiple staff members knocked on Polanco's cell door and that she was unresponsive. In the presence of her unresponsive body, officers could be seen laughing.<ref name="nbcnews.com" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Provenzano |first=Brianna |date=June 19, 2020 |title=The Way Prison Guards Treated Layleen Polanco Shows How Trans Women Are Killed by an Indifferent System |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/06/9863906/layleen-polanco-death-prison-guards-laughing-video |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223430/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/06/9863906/layleen-polanco-death-prison-guards-laughing-video |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=Refinery29}}</ref> The DOI stated that officers thought Polanco was napping and that the laughter was unrelated.<ref name="nbcnews.com" /> A wrongful death lawsuit was filed by David Shanies, the attorney for the Polanco family.<ref name="nbcnews.com" /> Shanies claimed that records showed that Polanco's epilepsy was "well known" and that she had suffered multiple seizures while at Rikers and that footage showed staff failed to provide Polanco with medical care that could have saved her life.<ref name="cnn.com">{{Cite web |last=Grinberg |first=Emanuella |date=July 31, 2019 |title=Cause of death revealed for transgender woman who died at Rikers Island |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/31/us/layleen-polanco-rikers-island-autopsy/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223430/https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/31/us/layleen-polanco-rikers-island-autopsy/index.html |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=CNN}}</ref><ref name="nbcnews.com" /> Polanco's death reignited conversations about banning cash bail and pretrial detention.<ref name="cnn.com" /> Melania Brown, Polanco's sister, and many others called for banning solitary confinement in New York City after Polanco's death.<ref name="nbcnews.com" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldensohn |first=Rosa |last2=Blau |first2=Reuven |date=June 23, 2020 |title=Jailer Pushed Layleen Polanco into Rikers Island Solitary Confinement Despite Red Flags: Report |url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2020/6/23/21300443/jailer-pushed-layleen-polanco-into-rikers-island-solitary |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223434/https://www.thecity.nyc/2020/6/23/21300443/jailer-pushed-layleen-polanco-into-rikers-island-solitary |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=The City}}</ref> Polanco was the tenth black trans woman to die in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Helm |first=Angela |date=June 10, 2019 |title=Activists Demand Justice for Layleen Polanco, a Black Trans Woman Found Dead in a Rikers Island Jail Cell |url=https://www.theroot.com/activists-demand-justice-for-layleen-polanco-a-black-t-1835379347 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223429/https://www.theroot.com/activists-demand-justice-for-layleen-polanco-a-black-t-1835379347 |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=The Root}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Conteh |first=Mankaprr |date=July 12, 2019 |title=It's Been over One Month Since Layleen Polanco's Death |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/layleen-polanco-xtravaganza-mourning-organizing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218223429/https://www.vogue.com/article/layleen-polanco-xtravaganza-mourning-organizing |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |website=Vogue}}</ref>
===2021 deaths===
Conditions on Rikers Island drastically deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, due to a combination of viral outbreaks, staffing shortages, and exacerbated mental health crises among detainees. There were 15 reported deaths of incarcerated people on Rikers Island in 2021: William Diaz-Guzman, age 30; Tomas Carlo Camacho, age 48; Javier Valasco, age 37; Thomas Earl Braunson III, age 35; Richard Blake, age 45; Jose Mejia Martinez, age 34; Robert Jackson, age 42; Brandon Rodriguez, age 25; Segundo Guallpa, age 58; Esias Johnson, age 24; Isa Abdul-Karim, age 41; Stephan Khadu, age 24; Victor Mercado, age 64; Malcolm Boatwright, age 28; and William Brown, age 55.<ref name="Seville">{{Cite web |last=Seville |first=Bliss Broyard, Lisa Riordan |date=December 27, 2021 |title=Rikers: The Obituaries |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/rikers-inmates-died-2021.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127040242/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/rikers-inmates-died-2021.html |archive-date=January 27, 2022 |access-date=January 27, 2022 |website=nymag.com |language=en-us}}</ref> Chief Medical Officer Ross McDonald attributed recent deaths to worsening conditions of the jail since the outbreak of COVID-19, calling the situation representative of a "new and worsening emergency".<ref name="Seville" />
=== 2022 === 19 Rikers Island detainees "died by suicide, overdose or medical emergency in 2022, with most of the deaths deemed preventable by oversight officials".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ransom |first1=Jan |last2=Kerr |first2=Sarah |last3=Kim |first3=Caroline |last4=Browne |first4=Malachy |title=Footage of Inmate Suicide Captures Dysfunction on Rikers Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/nyregion/rikers-island-inmate-suicide-deaths-federal-takeover.html |work=The New York Times |date=July 14, 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250714104022/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/nyregion/rikers-island-inmate-suicide-deaths-federal-takeover.html |archive-date=July 14, 2025}}</ref>
=== 2023 === In 2023, there were nine deaths.<ref name="NYDN September 2025">{{cite news |last1=Rayman |first1=Graham |title=Two suicides, three overdoses in 2025 Rikers death toll so far: Medical Examiner |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/09/22/two-suicides-three-overdoses-in-2025-rikers-death-toll-so-far-medical-examiner/ |work=New York Daily News |date=22 September 2025}}</ref>
=== 2024 === In 2024, there were five deaths.<ref name="NYDN September 2025" />
=== 2025 === In 2025, there were fifteen deaths.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2018-07-07 |title=Tracking Deaths in NYC Jails Since 2022 |url=https://www.vera.org/news/nyc-jail-deaths |access-date=2026-02-23 |website=Vera Institute of Justice |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== 2026 === As of April 2026, there have been two deaths.<ref name=":1" /> Barry Cozart, age 39; John Price, age; 49.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robles |first=Carlos |date=2026-03-25 |title=Man dies in custody at Rikers Island, 1st inmate death there in 2026 |url=https://bnonews.com/index.php/2026/03/man-dies-in-custody-at-rikers-island-1st-inmate-death-there-in-2026/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=BNO News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaye |first=Jacob |date=2026-03-30 |title=Another detainee death at Rikers marks second in less than a week |url=https://queenseagle.com/all/2026/3/30/another-detainee-death-at-rikers-marks-second-in-less-than-a-week |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Queens Daily Eagle |language=en-US}}</ref> Both deaths occurred from a medical emergency.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Meko |first=Hurubie |date=2026-03-30 |title=2 Rikers Detainees Die as Mamdani Faces Deadline to Shut Troubled Jail |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/nyregion/rikers-deaths-jail-mamdani.html |access-date=2026-04-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Notable detainees==
* Tupac Shakur – Housed in Rikers Island for sexually assaulting a fan in 1994. * Lil Wayne – Spent time for gun charges in 2010. * Sid Vicious - a band member of The Sex Pistols underwent drug rehabilitation on Rikers Island. * David Berkowitz – Serial killer known as the Son of Sam. Spent time at Rikers prior to being transferred to numerous facilities over the years. * Mark David Chapman – Murdered former Beatles member John Lennon. Spent time at Rikers Island. *DMX – American rapper. Served 70 days for parole violation in 2005. *Dominique Strauss-Kahn – French economist and politician. Served time here for sexual assault, unlawful imprisonment, and attempted rape. *Rodney Alcala – Serial killer known as the Dating Game Killer. Extradited from California's death row to New York for the murders of two young women from 1971, and 1977. Stayed in Rikers Island awaiting trial in 2012. *Harvey Weinstein – Sexual offender and film producer. *ASAP Rocky – Served 2 weeks for involvement in a brawl in 2006.
==See also== {{Portal|New York City}} * Alligator Alcatraz (Florida) * Bronx court system delays * Cook County Jail (Chicago) * Harris County, Texas jails (Houston) * List of jail facilities in New York City * Men's Central Jail (Los Angeles) * ''The Night Of'' Episodes 3-5 which revolve around an incarceration at Ryker's Island * Twin Towers Correctional Facility (Los Angeles)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * Venters, Homer (2019) ''[https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/life-and-death-rikers-island Life and Death in Rikers Island]''. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. {{isbn|9781421427355}}
==External links== {{Commons}} * Jennifer Gonnerman, [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/law-3 "Before the Law"], ''The New Yorker'', October 6, 2014, pp. 26–32. * CRIPA Investigation of the New York City Department of Correction Jails on Rikers Island, August 4, 2014 [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/05/nyregion/05rikers-report.html Published by the ''New York Times''] * Department Of Justice Takes Legal Action To Address Pattern And Practice Of Excessive Force And Violence At Rikers Island Jails That Violates The Constitutional Rights Of Young Male Inmates (December 18, 2014). [https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/department-justice-takes-legal-action-address-pattern-and-practice-excessive-force-and published by the ''U.S. Department of Justice''] * {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAqf0sDkcz0 |title=Most Violent Jail Inmates <nowiki> |date=May 21, 2016 |publisher=ABC News |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211104/FAqf0sDkcz0 |archive-date=November 4, 2021 |url-status=live |</nowiki> A Hidden America: Inside Rikers Island PART 1/2}}{{cbignore}} ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQBsPTRLe4s Part 2 here]) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYLWtFKR0xk Rikers Island; 30 years on death row; Eyewitness testimony reliability] 60 Minutes Full Episodes, Video via YouTube
{{New York City Islands}} {{Authority control}}
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