Mayor Adams vows to get Rikers Island under control after Department of Justice introduces possibility of federal takeover
NEW YORK -- Mayor Eric Adams says he's going to get Rikers Island under control.
This after the United States Attorney stepped in and sounded the alarm, putting the possibility of a takeover on the table.
The U.S. Department of Justice has run out of patience about the conditions on Rikers Island, writing to a federal judge, "We remain alarmed by the extraordinary level of violence and disorder at the jails..." and, for the first time, introducing the possibility of "seeking the appointment of a receiver" that would strip the city of its control of the troubled jail complex.
"A receivership doesn't entail the federal government per se coming in to run Rikers ... The Federal Court would appoint a non-biased expert to come in," said Hernandez Stroud with the Brennan Center for Justice.
For six years, a court-appointed federal monitor has detailed deteriorating conditions at the jails and offered remedies, which have not been implemented.
Sixteen detainees died last year, and three have died so far this year.
"Decades of problems in Rikers, we now have the right commissioner and the right team," Mayor Eric Adams said. "Why give me an opportunity? Because the people on Rikers, they look like me."
Adams is right, there's a long history of problems, and each new mayor pledges to fix it.
"The obstacles that are in Commissioner [Louis] Molina and Mayor Adams' way are too daunting for them to circumvent. Not because they're not good at their jobs, but because they're too daunting for anyone to fix," former Department of Correction commissioner Vincent Schiraldi told CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas.
So daunting, Schiraldi said he suggested federal receivership to former mayor Bill de Blasio.
"What can a federal receiver do that you weren't able to do?" CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas asked.
"There are 1,700 people, about, out sick on a given day," Schiraldi said. "And they have unlimited sick leave through the union contract and one thing a receiver could do is abrogate that contract."
Essentially, cut the red tape to more easily hire and fire staff, set a budget and address the ongoing violence and chaos.
"That freedom from the political process allows them to do things that the mayor, the commissioner simply can't for political reasons," Stroud said.
The Department of Justice calls receivership the last resort, but only a judge can consider it as an option.
Receivership has not been formally requested, and a judge would first have to determine if all other remedies have been exhausted.
Meanwhile, Adams says he looks forward to working with the U.S. Attorney's office.
All parties will go before a judge for a conference next week.
