Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday announced the opening of a new, quarter billion dollar hospital unit for city inmates — complete with a basketball hoop, library and other “therapeutic settings.”

The 104-bed facility at Bellevue Hospital will serve prisoners with “complex medical needs,” transferring them from Rikers Island — in what City Hall claimed marked a “major step” in shuttering the troubled jail complex.

“Today, we are charting a different course, one that diverts from the path of neglect and begins the process of closing Rikers Island once and for all,”  Mamdani told reporters from the Kips Bay hospital.

The project came with a $241 million price tag after years of delay, according to The City, which first reported that the unit would finally be opening.

The sprawling infirmary, located in a secure wing on Bellevue’s second floor, will start welcoming inmates on Wednesday, offering access to a “full range of specialty services,” such as oncology, cardiology and neurology, City Hall officials said.

Local officials and reporters were allowed to tour the facility, which is equipped with a shiny outdoor rec center — complete with a basketball hoop — that is fully barred off and only accessible via a secure walkway.

The space features communal sleeping quarters as well as private rooms that can only be accessed with staff key cards. 

Windows are partially obscured by frosted glass, preventing inmates from a clear view of the outdoors while maintaining natural light. 

Correctional Health Services clinicians will be the primary care providers “working in close coordination with Bellevue specialists,” City Hall officials said. 

“This unit is finally opening after years of delays, reflecting a renewed focus on delivering long-promised improvements to the City’s correctional health system,” the officials said in a press release. 

“It will serve patients with serious conditions such as cancer and congestive heart failure who do not require hospitalization but face heightened risks in a traditional jail setting,” the release said. 

“Clinicians will deliver care on-site, with enhanced monitoring and support in a therapeutic environment designed to improve health outcomes.”

The infirmary will be moved under the supervision of the Department of City Administrative services in June. 

It is the first of three “outposted therapeutic housing units” for prisoners, with the Mamdani administration saying it will open the others at Woodhull and North Central Bronx Hospitals, with 144 and 92 beds, respectively.

At the same time, the city will close the North Infirmary Command, a 500-bed hospital for people with acute medical needs at Rikers.

Mamdani called out the administration of his predecessor Eric Adams for the pricey project’s hold up – noting the Bellevue unit was completed in 2025, yet has stayed closed for over 15 months.

“The previous administration delayed the construction of borough based jails and dragged their feet on the opening of therapeutic health facilities like this one,” he railed.

“Opening this new clinical facility at Bellevue Hospital is how we begin to close Rikers Island — not with promises, but with action,” he added in a statement.

The City Council in 2019 passed a law to close Rikers and replace the beleaguered lockup with borough-based jails by 2027 — thought none are expected to open by the deadline.

Due to delays and budget miscalculations, the plan has fallen way behind schedule, and is expected to cost a whopping $13.7 billion – 57% more than its original projected cost. 

Construction contracts and demolition for the prospective new jail sites are finished, but the entirety of the project won’t be completed until 2032. The Brooklyn site has the earliest projected completion date slated for 2029, City & State reported.