Good afternoon, Chair Nurse and members of the Criminal Justice committee, and thank you for holding this hearing today. My name Hannah May-Powers and I am here on behalf of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to call attention to the ways in which the Mayor’s budget fundamentally undermines safety and the mandate to close Rikers Island.
The Department of Correction spends more than $556,000 per year per person currently detained on Rikers Island.1 This is almost 350% more than jail systems in Los Angeles and Chicago. Yet Mayor Adams wants to cut funding to programs that keep people out of jail and continues to support ineffective approaches to criminal justice.
The Department of Correction is in desperate need of rightsizing. According to the Vera Institute, the City could save $149.6 million without one layoff, just by eliminating uniformed vacancies.2 Let’s be clear – DOC has a management problem, not an issue with understaffing.3 As of February 27, 2025, the ratio of uniformed correctional officers to detained persons on Rikers Island was 0.8 correctional officers to 1 detained person.4 Though this ratio represents a decrease from recent years, it is still vastly higher than the national average of one correctional officer per 3.6 incarcerated people.5 This is an issue with both culture and practice at the DOC, which continues to ignore abuse of its unlimited sick time system. In FY2025, DOC had a total absence rate of 11.35%. This is higher than other agencies that have unlimited sick time policies such as FDNY (7.85%) and NYPD (4.61%).6
Overall, the DOC is set to receive a 9.2% budget increase over last fiscal year. This comes as agencies that seek to address the root causes of incarceration, such as housing instability and homelessness, unaddressed health and mental health concerns, and social isolation, are facing cuts. This includes the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (-3.2%), Housing Preservation
[1] Vera Institute
[2] Vera Institute
[3] Gothamist
[4] Corrections1
and Development (-6.2%), Department of Homeless Services (-8.1%), and the Department of Youth and Community Development (-11.5%).
As of March 2, 2025, there were 6,866 New Yorkers detained on Rikers Island.7 Not only is this a 10% increase from last year’s jail population, but it is also drastically higher than the 4,160-person population needed to transition the population to borough-based jails when construction is completed.8 However, Mayor Adams is again attempting to cut some of the most critical programs for keeping New Yorkers out of jail. Unless the funding is restored, Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) programs are slated to lose $14.487 million. ATI programs are mandated by judges to provide participants with supportive services in their communities instead of a jail or prison sentence.9 These programs provide significant supports to participants in the areas of employment, housing, education, health and mental health, and community life adjustment.10 Not only do ATI programs connect people with services that more appropriately address the root causes of incarceration than detainment, but they are also critical for safely lowering the detained population in order for the borough-based jail system to succeed.
According to Correctional Health Services, 25% of women at Rikers reported being homelessness upon intake.11 The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice found that 5.2% of all individuals on Rikers are street homeless.12 Data on other forms of homelessness and housing insecurity such as doubling-up and transitional housing is unclear; however, we know that homeless and housing-insecure individuals are drastically overrepresented in our carceral system. Stable housing is one of the most impactful ways to address incarceration.13 In 2019, the City expanded the Justice Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) program from 120 to 500 units. JISH is the only designated supportive housing program for people exiting Rikers, offering intensive support programs that are critical for people leaving jail. Since its expansion, it has largely remained stagnant due to a lack of provider funding.14 The FY26 budget must include expanded funding for JISH.
Another agency facing cuts is the Board of Correction, a critical oversight body that helps to keep people detained on Rikers Island safe. The proposed budget would lead to a 5% decrease, or $210,000, in funds for this body. Already, the number of BOC officials is not proportionate to DOC’s headcount. Increasing the BOC’s headcount to 1% of the DOC’s would bring more eyes to the thousands of complaints filed by incarcerated people that the BOC must review every year.
Thank you again for holding this hearing. The city can and must do better for the thousands of individuals impacted by incarceration. We know that social determinants of health such as safe and dignified housing, stable employment, food security, quality education, and access to quality healthcare are all protective factors against incarceration. As a city, we must invest in resources that get to the root causes of incarceration and inequality.
[7] Data Collaborative for Justice
[8] Gothamist
[9] MOCJ
[10] NY State Division of Criminal Justice Services
[11] Correctional Health Services
[12] City Limits
[13] The Fortune Society
[14] CSH