NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani CLOSES Part Of Rikers Island

History shows us the first thing a Socialist does when they get into power is to close the jails and set the criminals free.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani could be running the same playbook.

On Monday, the Mamdani administration announced it closed a jail facility at the notorious Rikers Island.

Rikers Island which has faced backlash for its harsh conditions and violence that occurs among inmates, is the main jail for all five Burroughs of New York City.

The closure comes as the Mamdani administration is aiming to close the jail complex all together.

Read the press release by NYC here:

Today, New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Department of Correction (DOC) Commissioner Stanley Richards and Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) Commissioner Yume Kitasei announced major milestones in the City’s effort to close the jails on Rikers Island and replace them with a modern, borough-based jail system.

Under the Mayor’s direction, DOC permanently closed the North Infirmary Command, a vacant jail that first opened in 1932, and transferred the facility to DCAS. The DOC also transferred jurisdiction over large portions of the George Motchan Detention Center (GMDC) and Anna M. Kross Center (AMKC) to DCAS. Neither facility currently houses people in custody. These are the first property transfers from DOC to DCAS since 2021.

“For decades, Rikers Island has represented one of the deepest failures of our City government. It has failed people in custody, correction officers and every New Yorker who believes our justice system should live up to its name,” said Mayor Mamdani. “This milestone brings us closer to ending that chapter. We are replacing a system built around neglect with one centered on rehabilitation and accountability because public safety and human dignity are not competing values.”

“Today’s announcement represents another important step toward closing Rikers Island,” said First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan. “For too long, the people who are in custody and work on Rikers have been treated as an afterthought by City government. With this transfer, our Administration is showing New Yorkers that we are seriously committed to building a safer, more humane borough-based jail system and governing with compassion.”

“This is not just about closing facilities; it is about building a modern, state-of-the-art system that promotes dignity for staff and those in our care,” said DOC Commissioner Stanley Richards. “Now is the time to be ambitious and create a system that supports the lifesaving work of this Department while helping those in our care make meaningful changes that will allow them to thrive upon their return home. This is an important step toward a safer, more effective correctional system for our city and the communities we serve.”

Take a look:

We just took another major step toward finally closing Rikers Island.

By permanently closing a jail and transferring three properties to DCAS, we're moving closer to closing Rikers for good. 

Our City's resources should be invested in rehabilitation, restoration, and a… https://t.co/mKFj0nQa5H

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) June 30, 2026

ABC 7 reported Rikers Islands was seized by the government last year:

A federal judge Tuesday seized control of New York City’s notorious jail complex on Rikers Island, which will now be run by an official who reports directly to the court.

In the past 50 years, a federal judge has seized control of an American jail fewer than a dozen times.

Critics have described brutal, violent and inhumane conditions inside the jail for years. There have been suspicious deaths and suicides.

In a 77-page ruling, Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote that she found the conduct of city over the last nine years “leaves no doubt that continued insistence on compliance with the court’s orders by persons answerable principally to political authorities would lead only to confrontation and delay.”

She also wrote “that the current management structure and staffing are insufficient to turn the tide within a reasonable period; that defendants have consistently fallen short of the requisite compliance with court orders for years, at times under circumstances that suggest bad faith; and that enormous resources — that the city devotes to a system that is at the same time overstaffed and underserved — are not being deployed effectively.”