Rikers Has Been "Closing" for a Decade, Yet People keep dying

A Crisis on Repeat: Why Words Don’t Match Action

New York calls Rikers a crisis, but keeps treating it like a construction project. A ten-year plan. Multi-billion-dollar contracts. NIMBY politics. All while thousands of people — mostly poor, mostly Black and brown — remain locked in a place the city itself says is unsafe.

New York City promised to shut down Rikers Island by 2027. But if you look at the numbers, the deaths, and the delays, that deadline is pure fiction. Rikers has been called a “crisis” for over fifty years — but at some point, you have to admit it’s not an emergency anymore. It’s a choice.

1970s–80s: Federal lawsuits already described Rikers as violent and unconstitutional.

1990s: Federal monitors took over. Corruption and brutality headlines filled the papers.

2000s: Suicides and assaults mounted. Christopher Robinson, a teen, was beaten to death in 2008.

2015: Kalief Browder’s story — jailed for three years without trial — put Rikers in the national spotlight. The DOJ ruled it unconstitutional for housing youth.

2017: Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio called Rikers a “stain on our city” and promised closure…in ten years.

2019: City Council codified closure by August 31, 2027. Four new borough-based jails were supposed to replace it.

2020–2022: During the pandemic, deaths surged. Courts called it a “humanitarian disaster.”

2023–2024: Oversight reports said conditions were worse than ever.

2025: A federal judge stripped the city of control, installing a remediation manager to fix what New York failed to.

Where Things Stand in 2025

Population: Instead of shrinking, the average daily population is now 6,800–7,000+ people. That’s nearly double what the planned replacement jails can hold.

Replacement Jails: Construction is years behind. The Manhattan jail won’t open until 2032 — five years after Rikers is legally supposed to be closed. Brooklyn is projected for 2029; Queens and the Bronx for 2031.

Deaths: People are still dying in custody at alarming rates. By September 2025, at least a dozen deaths had already been recorded this year alone.

Control: Rikers is no longer fully under city control — a federal judge now calls the shots.

Construction: Replacement jails are years late.

Brooklyn → 2029

Queens & Bronx → 2031

Manhattan → 2032

Deaths: By fall 2025, at least a dozen people had already died in custody this year.

Control: A federal judge now calls the shots because city leadership couldn’t.

Pull Quotes for Impact

“At some point, a crisis stops being a crisis. It becomes policy.”

“Every year of delay means more lives lost inside a place we’ve admitted is broken.”

“Rikers isn’t closing in 2027. It’s limping into the 2030s.”

Why Words Don’t Match Action

The city could have reduced its jail population through bail reform, diversion programs, and faster trials. Instead, it leaned on delays and excuses. So the population stays high, the replacement jails stay unfinished, and Rikers stays open.

Why “Crisis” Has No Meaning Anymore

When something is called a crisis for fifty years but nothing changes, it stops being a crisis. It becomes policy.

Delays in construction aren’t just red tape — they’re excuses.

Populations that never shrink mean promises are empty.

Every new lawsuit, every monitor report, every public “crisis” headline is just another spin of the hamster wheel.

What’s happening at Rikers is not a temporary emergency. It’s a choice. A choice to keep thousands of mostly poor, mostly Black and brown New Yorkers locked away in a place the city itself admits is violent, deadly, and broken — while kicking the can down the road to the 2030s.

The Bottom Line

Rikers has been “in crisis” for half a century. The difference now is that federal courts finally admitted the city can’t fix it on its own. Until New York stops normalizing the violence and death on Rikers Island, closure deadlines are just paper promises — and human lives keep paying the price.

Citations (for credibility)

Reuters – US Judge Takes Control of Rikers (May 2025)

Queens Eagle – Replacement Jails Delayed to 2029–2032 (Jan 2025)

Data Collaborative for Justice – NYC Jail Population Brief (Apr 2025)

The New Yorker – The Disillusionment of a Rikers Island Doctor

NYC Council Records – 2019 Closure Law & 2025 Delays

DJ for Change is a writer and community organizer in New York’s Capital District, focused on exposing injustice and pushing for real solutions. With a background in real estate and community building, DJ for Change writes about the intersections of policy, power, and everyday lives.