NEW YORK (AP) — Four members of Congress from New York demanded the release of inmates and closure of New York City’s troubled Rikers Island jail complex after another inmate was reported dead at the facility.
Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler, Jamaal Bowman and Nydia Velázquez called conditions at the jail “deplorable and nothing short of a humanitarian crisis,” in a letter Tuesday to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The demand followed the 11th death reported at Rikers Island this year. The city’s Department of Correction said an inmate died Sunday at the jail after reporting he did not feel well and was taken to the infirmary. His death came on the heels of both Hochul and de Blasio announcing plans to try to improve conditions at Rikers Island, where longstanding troubles were exacerbated amid the pandemic.
The Department of Correction, the mayor’s office and governor’s office did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The jail has failed to provide inmates with basic services and protection against the spread of COVID-19, the members said, and lawmakers on a recent visit to the facility found conditions that were “life-threatening and horrific,” the House members said in their letter.
Lawmakers reported overflowing toilets and floors covered in dead cockroaches, feces and rotting food. State Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas said inmates told her they felt like they were being treated like slaves and animals.
It was not immediately clear from the letter whether the four House members were calling for all inmates, including those being held for violent crimes, to be immediately released or for some to be transferred to other facilities.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office said the congresswoman believed that inmates should be released. Messages seeking additional information from the offices of the other House members were not immediately returned.
Of the 11 inmates who have died at Rikers Island this year, at least five died in suspected suicides. Officials have said deteriorating conditions at the jail came amid a slowdown in court proceedings, leaving more inmates incarcerated while awaiting trial, and chronic staff shortages.
At one point this summer, more than one-third of the city’s jail guards were on sick leave or medically unfit to work with inmates. Some guards missed shifts without any explanation.
De Blasio announced measures last week that included requiring jail guards to get a doctor’s note if they miss work for more than one day or face suspension without pay. Hochul on Friday signed legislation that largely eliminated the practice of incarcerating people for technical parole violations. The Democratic governor also said she was asking the state parole board to immediately release 191 people and move 200 sentenced inmates to state facilities.
Michael Skelly, a spokesperson for the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, representing the jail guards, dismissed the letter.
“Closing Rikers is a talking point and not a reality right now. We have 6,000 inmates. There are no new jails built yet,” he said. “Where are they going to go?”
He encouraged members of Congress concerned about Rikers to use their power to expedite building new jails, plans for which have been met with community opposition.
Skelly said those jails won’t open until 2027 at the earliest and combined they’d have a maximum capacity of 3,300 inmates.
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Associated Press writer Michael Sisak contributed to this report.
Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
