The new head of New York City’s troubled jails, Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, pledged on Friday to work with the federal monitor overseeing the system to avoid a takeover of the dangerous Rikers Island complex, promising to usher in a new era of transparency and a “humane” environment for people in custody.
Ms. Maginley-Liddie, an eight-year veteran of the Department of Correction who previously served as first deputy commissioner and chief diversity officer, said at a news conference on Friday that a federal takeover of Rikers Island was not a “foregone conclusion.” To avoid losing control of the jail, she said she would use the relationship she had developed with the monitor, Steve J. Martin.
Mayor Eric Adams interrupted the news conference at City Hall to read from a newly filed status report from the monitor that praised Ms. Maginley-Liddie as “transparent and forthright” and as someone who understood “the significant work that lies ahead.”
The praise was a bright moment in what has otherwise been an avalanche of bad news about Mr. Adams’s management of Rikers Island. Citing a failure to correct the dangerous conditions at the jail complex, Damian Williams, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, formally joined efforts last month to strip city control of the jail and place it under the authority of an outside entity, known as a receiver. Letitia James, the New York attorney general, also recently joined those efforts. Nine people have died at the jail complex this year.
The federal monitor has said that the city, including the former jails commissioner Louis A. Molina, strongly resisted efforts at reform.
Mr. Martin wrote in a status report Friday that the jails still presented “a high risk of harm to those who are incarcerated” there and that he remained “concerned about the development and mismanagement by leadership of various initiatives” to fix problems.
Ms. Maginley-Liddie said her focus would be “restoration and investment in a safe, secure, humane and supportive environment for each person entrusted to our care.”
Advocates had criticized Mr. Molina for reducing transparency at Rikers. During his tenure, officials stopped notifying the public when deaths occurred in custody and a jail oversight panel’s unrestricted access to Rikers Island video footage was revoked, though it was later restored.
Mr. Molina was not at the news conference on Friday, though Mr. Adams praised him. In the same status update that the mayor read from praising Ms. Maginley-Liddie, the monitor expressed concern that Mr. Molina, whom Mr. Adams recently appointed as the assistant deputy mayor of public safety, would still have oversight over the department.
The Legal Aid Society said in a statement that “the current deteriorated state of the Department of Correction is well past the ability of a single commissioner to correct,” and that only an independent authority in the form of a receiver could secure the “systemic changes” required.
The Campaign to Close Rikers Island, a group dedicated to ensuring that the jail closes by its legally mandated date of August 2027, also said a new commissioner could not solve the problems there.
“Rikers is irredeemable no matter who is running it,” said Darren Mack, a spokesman for the group.
In October, the speaker of the City Council, Adrienne Adams, announced the second iteration of the independent commission that created the plan to close Rikers. The mayor had expressed skepticism that the jail could be closed by the deadline.
On Friday, Mr. Adams argued against a receiver. He said that an outside agency wouldn’t be able to “fix the systems” at the jails. The mayor also said that he had inherited a broken system.
“I cannot emphasize enough,” Mr. Adams said, “this place has been broken for decades.”
Elizabeth Glazer, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, said Ms. Maginley-Liddie’s ability to work with the monitor was a good sign, but the ultimate test would be whether the city could change its approach to dealing with the monitor.
“So much of the obfuscation has been driven by trying to distract the monitor, and whether that is lifted from the new commissioner and she is simply permitted to do her job is the main concern,” Ms. Glazer said.
The new head of New York City’s troubled jails, Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, pledged on Friday to work with the federal monitor overseeing the system to avoid a takeover of the dangerous Rikers Island complex, promising to usher in a new era of transparency and a “humane” environment for people in custody.
Ms. Maginley-Liddie, an eight-year veteran of the Department of Correction who previously served as first deputy commissioner and chief diversity officer, said at a news conference on Friday that a federal takeover of Rikers Island was not a “foregone conclusion.” To avoid losing control of the jail, she said she would use the relationship she had developed with the monitor, Steve J. Martin.
Mayor Eric Adams interrupted the news conference at City Hall to read from a newly filed status report from the monitor that praised Ms. Maginley-Liddie as “transparent and forthright” and as someone who understood “the significant work that lies ahead.”
The praise was a bright moment in what has otherwise been an avalanche of bad news about Mr. Adams’s management of Rikers Island. Citing a failure to correct the dangerous conditions at the jail complex, Damian Williams, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, formally joined efforts last month to strip city control of the jail and place it under the authority of an outside entity, known as a receiver. Letitia James, the New York attorney general, also recently joined those efforts. Nine people have died at the jail complex this year.
The federal monitor has said that the city, including the former jails commissioner Louis A. Molina, strongly resisted efforts at reform.
Mr. Martin wrote in a status report Friday that the jails still presented “a high risk of harm to those who are incarcerated” there and that he remained “concerned about the development and mismanagement by leadership of various initiatives” to fix problems.
Ms. Maginley-Liddie said her focus would be “restoration and investment in a safe, secure, humane and supportive environment for each person entrusted to our care.”
Advocates had criticized Mr. Molina for reducing transparency at Rikers. During his tenure, officials stopped notifying the public when deaths occurred in custody and a jail oversight panel’s unrestricted access to Rikers Island video footage was revoked, though it was later restored.
Mr. Molina was not at the news conference on Friday, though Mr. Adams praised him. In the same status update that the mayor read from praising Ms. Maginley-Liddie, the monitor expressed concern that Mr. Molina, whom Mr. Adams recently appointed as the assistant deputy mayor of public safety, would still have oversight over the department.
The Legal Aid Society said in a statement that “the current deteriorated state of the Department of Correction is well past the ability of a single commissioner to correct,” and that only an independent authority in the form of a receiver could secure the “systemic changes” required.
The Campaign to Close Rikers Island, a group dedicated to ensuring that the jail closes by its legally mandated date of August 2027, also said a new commissioner could not solve the problems there.
“Rikers is irredeemable no matter who is running it,” said Darren Mack, a spokesman for the group.
In October, the speaker of the City Council, Adrienne Adams, announced the second iteration of the independent commission that created the plan to close Rikers. The mayor had expressed skepticism that the jail could be closed by the deadline.
On Friday, Mr. Adams argued against a receiver. He said that an outside agency wouldn’t be able to “fix the systems” at the jails. The mayor also said that he had inherited a broken system.
“I cannot emphasize enough,” Mr. Adams said, “this place has been broken for decades.”
Elizabeth Glazer, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, said Ms. Maginley-Liddie’s ability to work with the monitor was a good sign, but the ultimate test would be whether the city could change its approach to dealing with the monitor.
“So much of the obfuscation has been driven by trying to distract the monitor, and whether that is lifted from the new commissioner and she is simply permitted to do her job is the main concern,” Ms. Glazer said.