NEW YORK — The Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice is criticizing New York City’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 corrections budget, arguing it increases spending on incarceration while leaving the future of the long-promised closure of Rikers Island uncertain.
According to a press release issued by the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, the New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice and Committee on Finance held a joint hearing June 2 regarding the Fiscal Year 2027 Executive Budget for the Department of Correction.
The original press release states that the proposed FY2027 executive budget allocates approximately $2.96 billion to the Department of Correction, representing a 3.8% increase from the agency’s adopted budget in the previous fiscal year. According to the original press release, the Katal Center argues that the budget continues a pattern of expanding funding for incarceration while failing to adequately invest in community-based programs designed to reduce reliance on jails.
The original press release contends that conditions at Rikers Island continue to deteriorate as the city’s jail population rises and the legally mandated closure plan remains behind schedule. According to the original press release, the budget does not substantially expand programs and services that advocates believe could safely reduce the jail population.
The Katal Center also raised concerns regarding the Borough-Based Jails project. According to the original press release, projected costs for the replacement jail system have increased from an estimated $8 billion when the Rikers closure legislation was enacted in 2019 to nearly $16 billion today. The original press release states that the proposed budget does not sufficiently investigate or address these rising costs.
According to the original press release, the budget increases funding for the Department of Correction without presenting a revised timeline or definitive closure date for Rikers Island. The Katal Center argues that the absence of such a plan leaves the future of the closure effort uncertain.
Yonah Zeitz, advocacy director at the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, criticized the proposal in remarks included in the original press release. According to the original press release, Zeitz referenced the deaths of two incarcerated individuals at Rikers Island within a 24-hour period during the previous month and described conditions within the facility as “deplorable.”
The original press release states that Zeitz called on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to address the crisis at Rikers with the same urgency devoted to affordability issues facing New Yorkers. According to the original press release, Zeitz argued that the FY2027 Executive Budget continues policies that have allowed DOC expenditures to increase while programs intended to reduce incarceration have not been significantly expanded.
According to the original press release, Zeitz stated that Black, brown and low-income communities continue to be disproportionately affected by a budget proposal that, in the Katal Center’s view, leaves the Rikers closure plan unresolved.
The original press release further outlines several alternatives that the organization believes should receive greater investment. According to the original press release, these include Alternatives to Incarceration programs, supervised release initiatives, Justice-Involved Supportive Housing, Intensive Mobile Treatment teams, Flexible Assertive Community Treatment teams and the B-HEARD mental health response program.
The Katal Center also called on the New York City Council to use its budgetary authority to advance the closure of Rikers Island and hold the mayor accountable to the city’s closure law. According to the original press release, the organization advocates for reducing both the jail population and DOC spending while increasing investments in housing, health care, mental health services, education and employment opportunities.
The original press release concludes with the Katal Center’s demand for what it describes as a budget that will “cut the jail population, shut down Rikers, and invest in real community safety.” The debate over the FY2027 corrections budget comes as city officials continue to face scrutiny over the future of Rikers Island and the implementation of the closure plan approved by New York City lawmakers in 2019.
The hearing comes amid years of controversy surrounding Rikers Island, which has faced scrutiny from advocates, elected officials and federal monitors over conditions inside the jail complex. The city’s plan to close Rikers by replacing it with a borough-based jail system was approved in 2019, but delays, rising construction costs and a growing jail population have complicated those efforts. The FY2027 budget debate illustrates the challenges city leaders face as they attempt to balance immediate correctional needs with long-term commitments to reducing incarceration.
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