New prison commissioner wants to prevent takeover by Federal Rikers
The new head of New York City’s troubled prisons, Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, vowed Friday to work with the federal regulator that oversees the system to prevent a takeover of the dangerous Rikers Island complex. humane” environment for people in custody.
Ms. Maginley-Liddie, an eight-year veteran of the Department of Correction and previously first deputy commissioner and chief diversity officer, said at a news conference Friday that a federal takeover of Rikers Island was not a “done deal.” To avoid losing control of the prison, she said she would take advantage of the relationship she had built with the monitor, Steve J. Martin.
Mayor Eric Adams interrupted the press conference at City Hall to read from a newly filed status report from the monitor that praised Ms. Maginley-Liddie as “transparent and candid” and as someone who understood “the important work ahead.”
The praise was a bright moment in what would otherwise have been an avalanche of bad news about Mr. Adams’ management of Rikers Island. Citing a failure to correct dangerous conditions at the prison complex, Damian Williams, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, last month formally joined efforts to wrest control of the prison from the city and place it under the authority of place an outside entity known as a trustee. Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, recently did as well joined these efforts. Nine people have died in the prison complex this year.
The federal monitor has said the city, including former prison commissioner Louis A. Molina, vigorously resisted efforts at reform.
Mr. Martin wrote in a status report on Friday that prisons still pose “a high risk of harm to those incarcerated there” and that he remained “concerned by the leadership’s development and mismanagement of several initiatives” to address issues to solve.
Ms Maginley-Liddie said her focus would be on “recovery and investment in a safe, humane and supportive environment for every person in 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when deaths occurred in custody and a prison oversight panel’s unrestricted access to video footage from Rikers Island was revoked, although it was later reinstated.
Mr. Molina was not at Friday’s news conference, although Mr. Adams praised him. In the same status update that the mayor read when he praised Ms. Maginley-Liddie, the observer expressed concern that Mr. Molina, who Mr. Adams recently appointed assistant deputy mayor for public safety, continues to oversee would have in the department.
The Legal Aid Society said in a statement that “the current deteriorating state of the Department of Correction is far beyond the ability of any single commissioner to correct,” and that only an independent authority in the form of a trustee can address “systemic changes ” could achieve. ” required.
The Campaign to Close Rikers Island, a group that wants to ensure the prison closes by the legally mandated date of August 2027, also said a new commissioner would not be able to solve the problems there.
“Rikers are irredeemable, regardless of who is in charge,” said Darren Mack, a spokesman for the group.
In October, City Council President Adrienne Adams announced the second version of the independent commission that created the plan to close Rikers. The mayor had expressed his skepticism that the prison could be closed within the specified period.
On Friday, Mr. Adams argued against a trustee. He said an outside agency would not be able to fix “the systems” in the prisons. The mayor also said he inherited a broken system.
“I can’t 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 improve its approach change. handle the monitor.
“Much of the obfuscation has been caused by attempts to distract the observer, and whether that will be lifted by the new commissioner and she will be allowed to do her job is the biggest concern,” Ms. Glazer said.