By Alan J. Krawitz<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW YORK \u2014 Rikers Island jail is waging its own war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At issue is whether a federal receiver takes the reins of the jail from New York City\u2019s control. The next hearing on Rikers\u2019 fate is in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, on Nov. 17, a federal judge declined the request from lawyers, criminal-justice advocates and family members of inmates for a third party to try and reform the notoriously dangerous facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judge Laura Taylor Swain agreed to allow NYC\u2019s Department of Corrections, run by Commissioner Louis Molina, to try and improve the jail despite an independent monitor\u2019s report that found conditions \u201cdangerously unsafe\u201d for both inmates and staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The embattled facility is located on an island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t need the federal government to run our city, we can fix these problems,\u201d New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a recent news conference from City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inmate deaths mount<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So far this year, 18 people have died at Rikers Island jail, according to the\u00a0Katal Center for Equity, Health and Justice<\/a>, a nonprofit organization that wants to end mass incarceration.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, 16 people died in the custody of the Department of Corrections<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yonah Zeitz, advocacy director for the Katal Center, said: \u201cThe violence at Rikers has escalated far beyond what the court found unconstitutional back in 2015. The federal monitor\u2019s recent status update outlined how the deplorable conditions on Rikers are deteriorating and only getting worse under the Adams administration\u2026 We hope the court will hear the pleas of families in our City who have been harmed and even killed by Rikers, and order a receiver to take control of Rikers now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zeitz also called on Mayor Adams to \u201cmove forward\u201d with the plan to close Rikers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The deaths underscore a justice commission\u2019s recommendations to accelerate the closing of the facility, improve safety and find alternatives to incarceration. The Katal Center also notes the price tag of incarceration. It currently costs nearly $557,000 per year to detain a single inmate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some inmates reported \u201cinhumane\u201d conditions at the jail, including regular incidents of violence. Abraham Collazo said he entered Rikers with a hernia and has not been given adequate medical attention. A female inmate housed at the Rose M. Singer Complex complained of unsanitary living conditions, poor quality food and inadequate staffing in her unit to keep inmates safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Civil-rights attorney Norman Siegel, who heads New Yorkers for Social Justice, called Riker\u2019s \u201ca mess\u201d during a press conference at City Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have to hear from the staff and the people there and remember people have a constitutional right to a speedy trial.\u201d He added more than 1,000 people at Rikers Island spend a year or more while awaiting trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, recent Department of Corrections\u2019 statistics show conditions continue to worsen. There has been an increase in assaults on jail staff, slashings and an ongoing rise in the jail\u2019s population, which now stands at nearly 6,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this month, a correction\u2019s officer at Rikers was stabbed more than 15 times by a detainee being held at the facility on charges he murdered his pregnant girlfriend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Department of Correction\u2019s press office did not respond to requests for comment about the facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Clashes over control of Rikers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n NYC Comptroller Brad Lander is one of a handful of city politicians who has thrown his support behind a federal receiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026I have come to the conclusion that to address the short-term crisis, which is rooted largely in deeply entrenched mismanagement of staff and union leadership recalcitrance, a receiver should be appointed,\u201d Lander said in a statement. Whatever the court\u2019s decision, he said Rikers closure must be expedited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversely, Mayor Adams has maintained that conditions have been improving at the jail, citing a recent report by Steve J. Martin, the facility\u2019s current federal monitor tasked with improving conditions at the facility, as a result of a 2011 class-action lawsuit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin\u2019s report acknowledged the horrible conditions, but also said the Department of Corrections was open to reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n