TODAY, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani provided an update on the City's plan to meet the Board of Correction (BOC) minimum standards and implement Local Law 42.
The Mayor directed the Law Department and Department of Correction (DOC) to develop a plan in collaboration with the newly appointed remediation manager, the Nunez Monitor, the City Council and all parties involved in the Nunez case to improve conditions on Rikers Island for both staff and people in custody. The directive was issued through Emergency Executive Order 1 .
The plan requires ending 12-hour shifts for all correctional staff by spring 2026 and returning to eight-hour tours. It calls for a plan by summer 2027 to end commingling - the practice of housing people in custody of all ages together - through facility assessments and adjustments. It also calls for a plan to formalize pre-arraignment court security operations with the New York City Police Department through a renewed memorandum of understanding.
The DOC will immediately return to standard procurement rules. The Mayor also signed Emergency Executive Order 1.9, which ends procurement-related suspensions, continues to suspend other provisions of the law, and directs the DOC and the Law Department to regularly update the mayor regarding additional suspensions that can be lifted as the City works to implement the action plan.
"Today, we are taking a decisive step to improve conditions and move our jail system toward long-term stability and safety for those in custody and correction staff," said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani. "For too long, city government allowed entrenched problems and operational breakdowns to persist. This plan shifts us away from temporary stopgaps and toward sustainable reform."
"At Mayor Mamdani's direction, the Department of Correction and Law Department developed this plan to address long-standing issues in our jail system," said Corporation Counsel Steve Banks. "We will begin implementing it in coordination with the remediation manager and, when required, with the approval of the remediation manager, the Monitor and the Court. Our goal is clear: achieve compliance with Board of Correction standards, implement Local Law 42, strengthen oversight and improve conditions at Rikers Island."
"This plan marks an important next step in addressing issues that have festered for far too long," said DOC Commissioner Stanley Richards. "Under Mayor Mamdani's leadership, we are moving from crisis-driven operations to safe, sustainable jail management."
Shelter Plan
The City has produced a plan to return the shelter system to compliance with legal and regulatory standards that were suspended in response to the asylum-seeker humanitarian crisis.
The plan focuses on three priorities: closing the last remaining emergency asylum seeker shelter site and transitioning residents into compliant Department of Homeless Services (DHS) facilities; bringing single-adult shelters into compliance with capacity limits; and meeting compliance standards for family shelters, with a focus on access to cooking facilities.
The City will pursue these goals through phased transitions, accelerating exits to permanent housing and strengthening prevention and diversion programs to reduce the overall shelter census.
