Rikers Island is New York City’s main jail complex, a 400-acre island in the East River that holds roughly 7,000 people on any given day. Most are not serving sentences; they are waiting for their cases to move through the courts. The complex has been under federal court oversight for more than a decade over violent conditions, and a city law requires it to close by August 31, 2027.
Where It Is and Who Runs It
The island sits in the East River between the northern shore of Queens and the southern edge of the Bronx, just north of LaGuardia Airport. A single bridge, closed to the public, connects it to Queens. Politically, though, Rikers is part of the Bronx. That matters in one specific way: crimes committed on the island fall under the Bronx County District Attorney’s jurisdiction. People held at Rikers have their own cases handled in the borough where they were arrested. Someone picked up in Brooklyn still appears in Brooklyn courts even though they sleep at Rikers.
The New York City Department of Correction runs every jail facility on the island. The city charter gives the commissioner of correction authority over “the care and custody of all institutions” holding people charged with felonies, misdemeanors, and local law violations, as well as detained witnesses. A separate oversight body, the Board of Correction, inspects city jails at least annually and sets minimum standards for conditions, from cell size to recreation time.1New York City Charter. New York City Charter – Chapter 25 Department of Correction
Health care inside the complex is not handled by the Department of Correction at all. NYC Health + Hospitals, the city’s public hospital system, operates Correctional Health Services, which provides primary care, mental health treatment, substance-use programs, dental and vision care, and discharge planning for people leaving custody.2NYC Health + Hospitals. Correctional Health Services The split is deliberate. The agency responsible for keeping people locked up is not the same agency responsible for their medical treatment.
Who Is Held There
The large majority of people at Rikers have not been convicted of anything. They are pre-trial detainees waiting for their cases to be resolved. Some were denied bail. Others had bail set but could not afford to pay it. A smaller number are serving short sentences after conviction, and a few are held on other grounds such as parole violations or immigration detainers.
Pre-Trial Detention and Bail
New York overhauled its bail laws in 2019, eliminating cash bail for most misdemeanors and lower-level felonies. Under the current system, judges divide charges into two categories. For non-qualifying offenses, the court must release the person either on their own recognizance or with non-monetary conditions like check-ins or electronic monitoring. Judges cannot set cash bail for these charges.3New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 510.10
For qualifying offenses, judges have more options. They can still release the person, but they can also set bail or, for felony charges, order the person held without bail. Qualifying offenses include most violent felonies, sex offenses, major drug trafficking charges, gun felonies, certain domestic violence charges, and any crime causing someone’s death. A felony committed while already on probation or released on another case also qualifies.3New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 510.10 In practice, the population at Rikers skews heavily toward people facing serious charges who either cannot make bail or were denied it entirely.
Sentenced Individuals
New York draws a clear line between jails and prisons based on sentence length. Anyone receiving a definite sentence of one year or less serves that time in a local jail like Rikers rather than a state prison. Sentences longer than one year are served in facilities run by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Rikers therefore houses some people convicted of misdemeanors and lower-level offenses alongside the much larger pre-trial population.
What’s Actually on the Island
Rikers is not one building. It is a cluster of separate jail facilities, each housing a different segment of the population. The Rose M. Singer Center, opened in 1988, is an 800-bed facility for women. The Eric M. Taylor Center, built in 1964 and expanded in 1973, houses men. Other buildings sort people by security classification and legal status. Not every structure is still operational. The George Motchan Detention Center closed in 2018 and now serves as a training academy and staff wellness center.4Department of Correction. Facilities Overview
The facilities share a common transportation and utility infrastructure, but each operates with its own staff and internal procedures. Movement between buildings is tightly controlled. Security classifications range from minimum to maximum, and the Department of Correction assigns housing based on the severity of the charges, behavioral history, and medical or mental health needs.
Conditions and Federal Oversight
Rikers has been the subject of federal litigation over conditions for more than a decade. In 2015, the city entered the Nunez consent decree, a legally binding agreement reached after a class-action lawsuit documented what the U.S. Department of Justice called “systemic deficiencies” and a “decades-long culture of violence” inside the jails. The agreement required new use-of-force policies, better investigations when officers used excessive force, meaningful discipline for violations, and protections for young people in custody.5U.S. Department of Justice. Nunez v City of New York Consent Decree
A federal monitor was appointed to track compliance. As of January 2026, that monitor had filed twenty periodic reports to the court.6Department of Correction. Nunez Monitor Reports Those reports have consistently found the city falling short. In May 2025, Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the appointment of a Nunez Remediation Manager, effectively a federal receiver with the power to “take all actions necessary to cure Defendants’ contempt and support remediation of the ongoing violations of the constitutional rights of people in custody.”7U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. Opinion and Order Regarding Appointment of a Nunez Remediation Manager Selection of that individual was still underway as of mid-2025.
Deaths in custody remain a persistent crisis. The Board of Correction reported 12 deaths in the first several months of 2025 alone.8New York City Board of Correction. First Report and Recommendations on 2025 Deaths in NYC DOC Custody The causes vary, but the Board’s reports repeatedly cite the same systemic issues: delayed medical responses, inadequate mental health screening, and failures in supervision.
Visiting, Calling, and Sending Money
If someone you know is held at Rikers, you can visit in person. Every visitor aged 16 or older must present one valid, unexpired photo ID with a signature. Acceptable forms include a driver’s license, state-issued non-driver ID, passport from any country, IDNYC card, military ID, or green card. High school IDs are not accepted. Children under 16 do not need identification if accompanied by an adult over 18.9NYC311. Incarcerated Person Visit
The Department of Correction enforces a detailed dress code. Prohibited items include hooded clothing, hats (except religious head coverings), clothing with holes or hems more than three inches above the knee, see-through garments, and most jewelry beyond a wedding ring and a small religious medal. Visitors must wear undergarments and cannot wear more than one layer of clothing. If your outfit violates the policy, you can agree to wear a DOC-provided cover-up garment; refusing means the visit is denied.9NYC311. Incarcerated Person Visit
Phone calls from New York City jails have been free since 2019, when the City Council eliminated all charges. If you are waiting to hear from someone recently booked, it can take a day or more after arrival before phone access is available.
People in custody cannot hold cash. To put money into someone’s commissary account, you can deposit funds by phone or online through JPay or Western Union using a credit or debit card. You can also mail a bank check or money order; personal checks and cash are not accepted by mail. For in-person deposits, kiosks at the Rikers Island Central Cashier’s Office and the Manhattan Detention Center accept cash around the clock.10NYC311. Incarcerated Person Account
The Plan to Close Rikers by 2027
Local Law 16 of 2021 requires the city to end all incarceration on Rikers Island by August 31, 2027. On that date, control of the island must transfer from the Department of Correction to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.11New York City Council. Local Laws of the City of New York for the Year 2021 No. 16 The plan calls for replacing the island complex with four smaller, modern jails in the boroughs where the courts actually sit.
Those four planned facilities are in the Bronx (745 East 141st Street), Brooklyn (275 Atlantic Avenue), Manhattan (124-125 White Street), and Queens (126-02 82nd Avenue). Each is designed for roughly 1,150 beds, giving the system a total capacity of about 4,600 beds to serve a projected average daily population of 4,000.12Office of Environmental Coordination. Borough Based Jail System
Those capacity numbers were built around a much smaller jail population than the city currently has. With the daily census hovering around 7,000, there is a serious gap between the replacement system’s design and the number of people the city is actually holding. Construction progress makes the August 2027 deadline look increasingly unrealistic. Brooklyn’s facility is the furthest along, with its inner core reaching the eleventh level. The Bronx project received its notice to proceed only in August 2024. Queens and Manhattan were still in the design phase at the end of 2025.13New York City Board of Correction. Annual Borough-Based Jails Progress Report