City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams called Rikers Island a “death camp” Monday even as she admitted the troubled jail complex can’t shutter by 2027 — but still refused to say whether she’d amend the law mandating its closure.
“The pandemic caused the slowdown of the closure of Rikers, obviously,” Adams finally acknowledged during a forum on public safety at Hunter College’s Public Policy Institute, with some of her opponents in the upcoming mayoral election.
“I don’t think there’s anyone in the room who will debate the fact that it will be delayed as far as the closure. That is not the question. I think that is a reality,” she said.
Adams added: “Riker’s island is a death camp — I think we can at least agree to that.”
Council speaker Adrienne Adams calls Riker’s Island a “death camp” at public safety forum. James Messerschmidt
“Closing Riker’s is the law,” she said, in response to independent Jim Walden’s statements that suggested an alternative to total closure. James MesserschmidtThe infamous lockup — which has for years faced criticisms over unsafe conditions and overcrowding — is legally mandated to close by 2027, based on a controversial plan that would build four borough-based jail
Mayor Eric Adams has argued that the deadline can’t be met, and asked the City Council to amend the law it passed in 2019 setting the closure timeline.
The infamous lockup — which has for years faced criticisms over unsafe conditions and overcrowding — is legally mandated to close by 2027, based on a controversial plan that would build four borough-based jail AFP via Getty ImagesBut despite calls from the mayor, Adrienne Adams, who took over as council speaker in 2022, hasn’t taken any concrete steps to enact a new plan to tweak the current deadline.
“Closing Riker’s is the law,” Adams, no relation to the mayor, said during Monday’s forum when independent mayoral candidate Jim Walden suggested an alternative to total closure.
Rikers has already seen five inmates so far this year, but some critics called out the speaker for her characterization of the jail complex as a “death camp.”
“To call it a death camp is a gross political exaggeration,” a corrections officer, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post.
“That is an insult to survivors of real death camps, and that statement offends a whole community,” another correction officer griped.
In a statement, a rep for the speaker said “People are unsafe and losing their lives on Rikers, and it continues to undermine safety across our entire city.”
“The work towards its permanent closure is not solely about building new jails and a date on the calendar. It requires active leadership from the mayoral administration to invest in the programs necessary to make our city safer: mental health treatment and recidivism reduction programs that decrease our bloated jail population and support the transition to a borough-based jail system,” the statement said.
“Thus far, this mayoral administration has failed to follow through on the action steps necessary for our collective safety. Any discussions about the legal closure date will have to occur with meaningful action and progress from the Administration to invest in these required steps.”






