Rikers Island is one of the most infamous jail complexes in the United States and a powerful symbol of the failures of the criminal legal system. Located in New York City, Rikers has been widely condemned for its extreme violence, abuse, inhumane conditions, and systemic neglect. For decades, it has disproportionately harmed Black, brown, poor, and mentally ill people.
🔴 Why Rikers Island Needs to Be Closed
1. Brutal and Deadly Conditions
Rikers is plagued by violence, neglect, and abuse.
Detainees are regularly subject to beatings by correction officers or other inmates.
Many are held in filthy, overcrowded cells, with broken plumbing, rodent infestations, and no access to basic hygiene.
People die regularly at Rikers due to lack of medical care, suicide, overdoses, and violence. More than 30 people died between 2021 and 2023 alone.
2. Solitary Confinement and Torture
Rikers has used solitary confinement extensively, including on young people and people with mental illness.
This isolation can last for weeks, months, or even years—amounting to psychological torture.
Survivors like Five Mualimm-ak, who spent years in solitary, describe the long-term trauma and mental damage it causes.
3. Punishing the Poor
Around 85% of people at Rikers are pretrial—meaning they have not been convicted of a crime.
Many are locked up simply because they cannot afford bail.
Rikers criminalizes poverty, not public safety.
4. Targeting Black and Brown Communities
Rikers disproportionately incarcerates Black and Latino people.
The jail reflects deep systemic racism, where entire communities are overpoliced, criminalized, and locked away.
It perpetuates cycles of trauma, family separation, unemployment, and homelessness.
5. Mental Health Crisis
More than 40% of the Rikers population lives with diagnosed mental illness.
Rikers is often referred to as “the largest mental health facility in New York”—but it is not equipped to provide care.
People in psychiatric crisis are often punished instead of helped.
6. Culture of Corruption and Impunity
There are frequent reports of staff absenteeism, brutality, and corruption.
Corrections officers often go unpunished for assaults and abuse.
In some cases, entire jail units have been left unattended, with people in cages for days without food, water, or medical care.
7. It’s a Financial Disaster
Rikers is extremely expensive to run.
New York City spends over $500,000 per person per year to incarcerate people at Rikers.
That money could instead be invested in housing, education, mental health care, and jobs—the real solutions to community safety.
✊ The Movement to Close Rikers
Advocates like Five Mualimm-ak, along with groups like the Jails Action Coalition and the #CloseRikers campaign, began organizing in 2010.
In 2017, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio committed to a 10-year plan to close Rikers, but the city has failed to meet deadlines.
Organizers are demanding non-carceral solutions, restorative justice, and investment in public health, not punishment.
📢 What People Are Saying
“Rikers is a moral stain on New York. No one should be caged, tortured, and discarded like this. It must be shut down for good.”
— Five Mualimm-ak, survivor and justice activist
“The longer we keep Rikers open, the more lives are destroyed. It’s time to build communities, not cages.”
— Close Rikers Coalition
✅ What Closing Rikers Would Mean
Dismantling mass incarceration in NYC
Ending solitary confinement
Investing in alternatives: supportive housing, peer-led mental health care, youth programs, reentry services
Honoring the dignity and humanity of all people—regardless of their background or charges
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