Coronavirus Diagnoses On Rikers Spur Elected To Fight For Release

NEW YORK CITY — A Rikers Island guard and inmate tested positive for novel coronavirus and a Department of Corrections investigator has died, spurring the city's top lawmakers to demand at-risk detainees and those paroled on lesser charges be immediately released.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and City Council Member Brad Lander called on Gov. Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city's district attorneys to release low-level offenders, chronically ill New Yorkers and those more than 50 years old.

"They're in cages and they’re afraid," Williams said. "We want to make sure everyone is actually protected."

Of the 900 older detainees, about 600 have chronic medical conditions, about 300 are held on a parole warrant, about 200 are held on bail and 75 are being held on a minor city sentence, the lawmakers said.

The lawmakers' live streamed press conference came one day after the city's Board of Corrections, which oversees the jails, drafted correlating recommendations.

Their demands are briefly as follows:

• That Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD:
  • Suspend all low-level arrests, including the NYPD’s controversial “homeless diversion” program.
  • Stop executing summons and bench warrants.
  • Provide free and sanitary teleconferencing and phone calls to ensure detainees could reach their families.
• That Governor Cuomo and the state Department of Corrections:
  • Stop incarcerating people on parole for technical violations.
  • Release high-risk detainees
  • Consider clemency petitions of older incarcerated people and those with preexisting health conditions.

A Mayor's office spokesperson told Patch Tuesday that de Blasio was considering following these recommendations, but Lander urged immediate action.

“New York City and New York State have a responsibility to shrink the jail population” said Lander.

"If we fail to do so, the increased death toll will be on our hands, and no amount of soap will wash it away.”