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New York City Mayor Eric Adams was baptized at notorious Rikers Island jail on Good Friday. Adams was baptized by civil rights campaigner Rev. Al Sharpton, alongside a group of male prisoners. The ceremony came as part of a visit to the jail, which has seen reports of violent crime and inmate deaths, where Adams met with detainees over Easter weekend. Adams was seen joining Sharpton in prayer, being baptized and having his feet washed by the reverend. 'Having been arrested and then elected mayor, I reminded these young men that where you are is not who you are,' Adams...

A former Rikers guard who was sexually assaulted by an inmate claims a nurse at the notorious jail could have been spared an attempted rape if supervisors had taken her attack more seriously... Yessica Delacruz was working an overnight shift at one of the jail’s clinics and was transferring incoming inmates from an intake cell to the medical unit when she first encountered Michael Cleaver just after 2 a.m. ... Cleaver, 55, had just been arrested on Nov. 9 on charges of burglary, harassment and menacing... ... “He came to the door and started pushing the door, like a football...

A female inmate at a women’s correctional facility in New York filed a lawsuit alleging that a male inmate who claimed to be “transgender” raped her. The lawsuit was filed by “Rose Doe,” who was housed in the Rose M. Singer women’s jail on Rikers Island. Doe is suing a total of 20 defendants, including the city of New York, alleging that the staff at the jail ignored her warnings about the “transgender women” who was living with the female inmates (via NBC New York):"His introduction was, 'I’m not transgender. I’m straight. I like women,’" said the plaintiff, who is...

A Rikers Island corrections officer who once claimed he was working more than 100 hours a week was hit with federal charges Wednesday for allegedly cheating the city out of more than $170,000 in bogus overtime. James Internicola, a 26-year veteran of the city Department of Corrections, was allegedly on vacation soaking up the sun in Aruba or on the Jersey Shore while claiming he was actually on duty at Rikers, according to a 13-page complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court. Between July 2021 and January 2023, the 56-year-old Rikers guard pocketed more than $390,000 in pay and overtime —...

Inmates on notorious Rikers Island could soon be scoring “Get out of Jail Free” cards courtesy of the New York City Council. Progressive Democratic Council members approved a controversial bill aimed at slashing the lock-up’s population by creating new borough-based, taxpayer-funded “jail population review” teams to decide who among the complex’s roughly 6,000 prisoners meet yet-to-be-determined criteria “for early case resolution or pretrial release.” Democratic Councilman Robert Holden called it among the most “dangerous” pieces of legislation he’s ever seen. The goal of the bill, sponsored by left-wing Councilwoman Carlina Rivera (D-Manhattan), is lowering the jail population to meet a...

Family and advocates are outside NY Gov. Kathy Hochul's New York City office calling for jail reform after two more deaths at Rikers Island.

Mayor Bill de Blasio rebuffed demands by Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for an instant release of all Rikers Island detainees due to increasingly dangerous conditions at the jail, refusing to “just open up the gates.” “That’s not going to happen,” de Blasio said Wednesday during his daily press briefing, held remotely from Queens Borough Hall. “I respect the Congress member and her colleagues who signed that letter, [but] couldn’t disagree with them more,” he added. “It’s not going to happen, it’s not the right way to handle things.” On Tuesday, AOC along with Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Nydia Velazquez...

Scores of inmates serving time on Rikers Island are set to be sprung prematurely as part of a desperate bid by Mayor Bill de Blasio to deal with the shortage of correction officers willing to work there, The Post has learned. The horde of ex-cons would comprise the second wave of convicted criminals granted early release since last year, when officials used the COVID-19 pandemic to justify putting around 180 jailbirds back on the streets. Those inmates were among more than 1,500 who were freed last year due to the coronavirus crisis, reducing the city’s jail population to 4,363 —...

Hundreds of inmates were released from Riker's Island in New York City to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the prison. Officials knew the risks. And those fears have been realized, hundreds of times. New reporting from Melissa Russo reveals that at least 250 prisoners out of the 2,500 who were released early have gone on to commit at least 450 more crimes. **SNIP** Melissa Russo ✔ @MelissaRusso4NY 250 prisoners released early from Rikers bc of COVID-19 concerns have been arrested 450 times since. We take a look at one who has been rearrested 4X already. The NYPD is...

Some inmates released from Rikers Island amid the coronavirus outbreak are being given free cellphones, cab fare and even hotel rooms as they head out the door, according to sources and a City Hall rep. “This is a disgrace to all correction officers — insane and dishonorable,’’ a city Department of Corrections source raged to The Post on Friday.

Weinstein is said to be under the watchful eye of medics and is being regularly checked on by guards amid concerns he could harm himself. He said to enjoy regular inmate privileges including one hour of recreation, library access and three meals a day. . . . He is set to be sentenced on Wednesday. New York prosecutors said in a court filing on Friday he should get a sentence that reflects not only his conviction for sexually assaulting two women, but a 'lifetime of abuse towards others'.

Thursday, the New York City Council will vote on the latest proposal to close the centralized detention facilities on Rikers Island and replace them with a borough-based jail system. The baseline estimate of how many inmates that system will be expected to accommodate by 2026 was recently revised down to just 3,544 — about half of its population today. When one considers (1) the seriousness of the charges most city jail inmates are facing, (2) the level of violence those inmates engage in behind bars and (3) the potential for future crime increases, one thing becomes crystal clear: There is...

More than 500 women and teenagers will be bailed out from Rikers Island as part of a national campaign to dismantle a bail system that activists say discriminates against minorities and the poor. The effort is being spearheaded by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights group, which plans to raise at least $5 million to fund the releases. While there have been other so-called mass bailouts around the country, organizers said they believe this effort at Rikers has the potential to be one of the largest ever.

The nation’s largest municipal jail guard union sued New York City on Friday, saying recent sweeping changes in city’s jails have empowered violent inmates and endangered correction officers. The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court alleged violence in city jails has increased 18 percent since the city instituted changes to how guards perform their work following a rash of alarming reports about the abuse of prisoners, particularly at the city’s main Rikers Island jail complex, where as many as 10,000 inmates are housed. The city and its officials have “created a substantial and imminent risk that Correction Officers will continue to...

Two men being held in jail while awaiting trial for cigarette trafficking are accused of plotting to kill witnesses against them. In an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn Supreme Court Thursday, Basel Ramadan and Yousseff Odeh are charged with conspiracy to murder witnesses and with soliciting a potential hit man. The murder-for-hire plot was hatched from New York City's Rikers Island jail where the two have been held since their May arrest on the initial cigarette-trafficking and money laundering charges. The Staten Island Advance reports that Odeh was a supporter of blind sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the spiritual guide for the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Skimpily dressed visitors to New York City's main jail complex can only see inmates if they cover up with an oversized, baggy, green T-shirt as part of a new dress code. The new rules at Rikers Island aim to maintain a "family friendly" environment at the jail. The city's Department of Corrections has purchased some 750 T-shirts in an easy-to-track shade of bright green. The shirts, all size XXL, are meant to be shapeless on all but the heaviest frames.

I have some incredibly disturbing news to report to you today that entails gutting an effective program involving the collaboration of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and the New York Department of Corrections. As many of you might know, one of the best means of apprehending and deporting criminal aliens is consistent cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement agencies. The programs that exist to effectuate this end, Secure Communities and the much more robust 287(g), have been the single best tool in our arsenal capable of frustrating the intentions of criminal aliens who repeatedly flout our...

Escape from Rikers: Bailed 'rape' banker forced to move to secret hideaway after neighbours block move to luxury New York apartmentBy Daniel Bates Last updated at 11:33 PM on 20th May 2011 **SNIP** He and his family were earlier told he was not welcome at the luxurious Bristol Plaza in Manhattan's Upper East Side by its wealthy and influential residents. The landlord of the complex also reportedly changed his mind when he realised the amount of attention his new resident would bring. As the complaints only began pouring in - hours before Strauss-Kahn was to be released - his legal...

Ex-IMF big granted bail, but he has no place to goBy LARRY CELONA and JENNIFER GOULD KEIL Last Updated: 12:11 PM, May 20, 2011 He may want to leave Rikers, but former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has no place to go. Strauss-Kahn's plans to ditch his Rikers Island jail cell today may have to be put on hold as his wife scrambles to find an apartment that can be used for her husband's home confinement while he's out on bail, sources told The Post. Anne Sinclair had rented an apartment at the posh Bristol Plaza on East 65th Street, but...

A city correction officer took a cell phone photo of his co-worker sleeping on duty, leading to disciplinary action against both of them. The photo shows guard Nadja Green, in uniform, leaning back in a chair with her arms folded on her chest, eyes closed and mouth open. An inmate is standing next to her, making a "peace" sign. The photo, published in the New York Post on Tuesday, came to the attention of Department of Correction officials last week, said Deputy Commissioner Stephen Morello. Once it was authenticated, Green was transferred from her post at the Rikers Island infirmary...