New York’s notorious Rikers jail awaits elusive closure
The entrance to the Rikers Island correctional facility in Queens, New York, on Oct. 5. The facility was due to shutter by 2027, but New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has acknowledged the city will not meet that deadline. | AFP-JIJI
Oct 12, 2026
New York – New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail, long criticized for unsanitary and violent conditions, will miss a deadline for the vast complex to close down, prompting disappointment from activists.
The jail, which opened in 1932 and has counted John Lennon’s killer Mark David Chapman, rapper Tupac Shakur and Sex Pistols musician Sid Vicious among its residents, was due to shutter by 2027.
That was a pledge by former mayor Bill de Blasio, responding to persistent issues ranging from staff shortages, broad drug use and broken cell doors and windows.
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