Rikers replacement plan stumbles: Borough-based jails delayed and over budget

April 29, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Mayor Eric Adams addresses the complexities and financial overruns affecting the borough-based jail plan, acknowledges potential delays beyond the 2027 legal mandate for the closure of Rikers Island. Photo: Brittainy Newman/AP

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The plan to replace the notorious Rikers Island jail complex with borough-based facilities, including an expanded site on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, has seen its estimated cost surge to a staggering $16 billion, as revealed in Mayor Eric Adams’ latest executive budget proposal.

Initially projected at $8 billion in 2019, the cost for the new jails has continuously risen, now doubling amid a series of delays and logistical hurdles, including the ongoing pandemic and a shortage of available contractors.

The new facility in Brooklyn, which is part of a broader initiative to create more humane detention conditions across the city, is now not expected to open until 2029. This delay pushes the completion date two years beyond the legally mandated deadline to shutter Rikers Island by 2027.

The mayor attributed the cost escalation to unforeseen challenges exacerbated by COVID-19 and a limited pool of construction firms capable of undertaking such specialized projects.

This development raises significant concerns regarding the capacity of the new jails compared to the current detainee population on Rikers Island. With the proposed borough-based jails designed to house 4,400 individuals, there is a glaring discrepancy with the daily average of around 6,300 detainees currently held at Rikers.

Former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, in charge of the Commission to Close Rikers Island, has said that if the city would constructively address mental health issues, the population on Rikers Island would immediately drop.

The city’s struggle to reconcile these numbers with the facilities’ capacities has prompted a renewed dialogue between the Mayor’s Office and the City Council, aiming to address the overcrowding and explore viable strategies to reduce the jail population effectively.

Councilmember Sandy Nurse, chair of the Council’s Committee on Criminal Justice, expressed deep concerns over the escalating costs and the administration’s efforts in managing the jail’s population and ensuring timely progress on the new facilities.

Advocacy groups continue to push for the closure of Rikers, citing both the moral and economic burdens of maintaining the facility, urging the city to prioritize the completion of the borough-based jails and enhance community resources to help decrease entries into the jail system.