Good afternoon Chair Nurse and members of the Criminal Justice Committee. Thank you for holding this hearing today. My name is Hannah May-Powers and I am here today on behalf of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to state unequivocally that Rikers Island must be closed by the legally mandated date of August 31, 2027.
According to the Vera Institute, the Department of Correction spends more than $556,000 per year per person currently incarcerated on Rikers Island. This is nearly 350% more per person than the Los Angeles and Cook County (Chicago) systems. Yet Rikers Island remains a humanitarian crisis. Even a single death of an incarcerated person is too many; however, 30 people have died on Rikers Island alone since January 2022.
Despite these egregious numbers, Mayor Adams wants to cut funding to some of the most impactful, research-driven programs that help to keep people out of jail. These budget cuts include:
- $6.7 million for alternatives to incarceration;
- $13 million for supervised release; and
- $8 million for reentry services.
Overall, there is a proposed 3.3% decrease in DOC’s budget from FY24 to FY25, less than many other critical City agencies are slated to receive. The most bloated areas of spending for DOC – 88.3% of agency expenses – are staff salaries, benefits, and overtime (overtime costs skyrocketed to $254 million in 2023). There are approximately 901 current vacancies of uniformed DOC employees, yet even with these, the ratio of uniformed staff to incarcerated individuals is more than four times the national average. Rightsizing DOC by cutting these vacancies could free up $162 million in FY 2025 alone, which could be re-allocated to programs and services that keep people out of jail and keep incarcerated people safe.
It is also necessary to hold uniformed DOC employees accountable for chronic absenteeism. They have unlimited sick leave, and many abuse this benefit. For example, as of December 2023, the number of uniformed DOC officers taking sick leave is nearly twice that of the pre-pandemic rate within the department. Approximately 8.49% of uniformed DOC employees are out on sick leave on any given day, which is more than twice the rate of NYPD and FDNY, agencies that also have unlimited sick time for uniformed staff.
Relevant budget areas that need the Council’s attention include:
Justice-Involved Supportive Housing and the “mental health safety net”: As part of its commitment to closing Rikers, the administration promised an additional 380 supportive housing units specifically for people who have been incarcerated. Supportive housing provides those leaving incarceration with the supportive services they need to succeed, including mental health care, and has been found to reduce recidivism. Yet the administration has not delivered on this goal.
The commitment also included investment in community-based services to reduce the number of people ending up in jail as a result of behavioral health issues. Yet Rikers still functions as New York City’s largest mental health facility, with a 41% increase in the number of people incarcerated there who have a serious mental illness since January 2022. And the care they are receiving there is woefully inadequate. Incarcerated people with both physical and mental health concerns report missing necessary medical appointments, and thousands of people are shuffled between psychiatric facilities and jails without receiving long-term, meaningful mental health treatment. Instead of languishing in jails, people with mental health concerns who are or have been incarcerated deserve compassionate care.
Board of Correction headcount: The Board of Correction is a critical oversight body that helps to keep incarcerated people safe. However, the number of BOC officials is not proportionate to DOC’s headcount. Increasing BOC’s headcount to 1% of DOC’s would bring more eyes to the thousands of complaints filed by incarcerated people that BOC is tasked with reviewing annually. This expansion would only add about $4 million to the overall expense budget. Despite the need for additional staff, Mayor Adams has proposed that BOC reduce their staff from 25 to 29 positions.
Alternatives to Incarceration: It is extremely concerning that, earlier this week, the City’s Budget Director suggested that the legally mandated timeline for closing Rikers will not be met. There are currently approximately 6,200 people incarcerated on Rikers Island, or almost 3,000 more people than the borough-based jails were originally intended to hold. Rather than funding ATI programs, the administration is simply attempting to add more beds to the new jails, for example increasing the number of planned beds at the women’s jail in Queens by more than 200%. While this administration claims it simply cannot lower the population of incarcerated people enough to close Rikers, it leaves ATI programs underutilized and under-funded. For Rikers to close on time and to ensure that people are not being held unnecessarily behind bars, the administration must support ATI.
Investment in youth: Youth programs, such as after school activities, sports, summer jobs, and other initiatives provide school-aged children the opportunity to connect with peers and mentors. These programs also help to keep youth engaged and avoid criminalized behaviors.
Borough President Reynoso supports the call from advocates to fully fund these programs, and we will present more detailed recommendations at the Education and Youth Committee budget hearings.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this hearing today. We know that the City Council cares deeply about the well-being of the currently and formerly incarcerated and their loved ones, and the Borough President looks forward to working with you to ensure that we keep our commitments to all New Yorkers and address the many injustices happening daily on Rikers Island. It is time to reinvest our public dollars to supporting our neighbors instead of incarcerating them.
