NEW YORK — More than 70 criminal justice, social justice and legal organizations are urging New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to redirect at least $35 million toward crime prevention, alternatives to incarceration and reentry services as the city prepares to release its updated financial plan later this month.
The organizations, part of the Campaign to Close Rikers, sent a letter to Mamdani calling for increased investments in community-based services that they argue could reduce the city’s jail population and accelerate the closure of the Rikers Island jail complex.
In 2019, the New York City Council approved a plan to close Rikers Island and replace the complex with four smaller borough-based jails. City law requires the complex to close by Aug. 31, 2027, but officials have acknowledged that the deadline will not be met.
The replacement facilities are not expected to be completed until at least 2032, according to the Queens Daily Eagle.
The city also faces a substantial gap between its current jail population and the capacity of the planned facilities.
Approximately 6,661 people were being held at Rikers Island at the beginning of November, while the four replacement jails are designed to accommodate no more than 4,400 people combined.
That would require reducing the jail population by more than 2,200 people before the new facilities could accommodate everyone currently held at Rikers.
The coalition, which includes Freedom Agenda, Brooklyn Defender Services and The Legal Aid Society, argues that expanding housing, behavioral health treatment and community-based alternatives to incarceration is essential to reducing the number of people entering and remaining in city jails.
“These investments are long overdue, they save human lives and ultimately save the City millions of dollars, and there is no time to waste,” the organizations wrote in their letter.
The coalition said people are regularly sent to Rikers while awaiting access to community services, while others leave custody without adequate support to secure housing, treatment or other resources.
“Every week, dozens of New Yorkers are sent to Rikers while waiting for the community-based supports they urgently need; and dozens of New Yorkers leave Rikers without the support or connections to services that can help them find stability at home,” the letter stated.
The organizations also pointed to the difficulties facing the Department of Correction in providing adequate care for people with significant medical and behavioral health needs.
The coalition proposed directing at least $20 million toward creating 650 supportive housing units for people involved in the criminal legal system who have mental health diagnoses.
The housing proposal originated with the Independent Rikers Commission, which developed recommendations for closing the jail complex and expanding community-based alternatives.
The groups also requested $10 million for alternative-to-incarceration programs and another $10 million for reentry services intended to help people returning to their communities after incarceration.
Additional proposals include $1.7 million for a pilot outpatient competency restoration program and $3.5 million to establish four crisis respite centers, which provide alternatives to hospitalization for people experiencing mental health crises.
Together, the specified proposals total $45.2 million, although the coalition described its immediate request as a redirection of at least $35 million in city funding.
The organizations suggested that some of the money could come from the Department of Correction’s budget, including by eliminating funding for some of the more than 770 vacant uniformed officer positions that the agency has been unable to fill.
The coalition acknowledged steps taken by Mamdani’s administration since he assumed office in January, including closing unused facilities on Rikers Island and opening a hospital unit to provide care for incarcerated people with serious medical conditions.
However, the organizations said the jail population remained virtually unchanged from a year earlier despite those efforts.
“Mayor Mamdani has taken important steps toward closing Rikers since he took office, and it is largely the fault of the previous administration that New York City will not close all the jails on Rikers by August next year,” Freedom Agenda co-director Darren Mack said in a statement.
“But this administration is still responsible for moving with all possible urgency to close Rikers, and that includes ramping up investments in prevention, diversion, and reentry resources now,” Mack added.
The coalition argues that reducing the jail population should remain an immediate priority even if construction delays prevent the city from meeting the legal deadline for closing the entire complex.
“With focused action, we can improve community safety and reduce incarceration, and see at least half of the Rikers jails closed by August 2027,” Mack said.
The administration has acknowledged the difficulty of meeting the deadline while maintaining its commitment to closing the complex.
In April, Mamdani appointed Dana Kaplan to oversee the city’s closure efforts, including reducing the jail population, advancing construction of replacement facilities and coordinating the transfer of incarcerated people.
According to an April announcement from the mayor’s office, Kaplan previously served as a senior adviser to the Independent Rikers Commission.
Sam Raskin, a spokesperson for Mamdani, said City Hall would review the coalition’s funding proposals.
“The Mamdani administration is working to improve conditions in our city’s jails, fulfill our legal and moral obligation to close Rikers Island, and transition to a safer, more humane borough-based jail system as quickly as possible,” Raskin said.
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