Direction of Rikers receivership could soon change if Eric Adams is out and Jumaane Williams takes over

A federal judge’s order has demanded that New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration detail no later than two weeks before Thanksgiving what a Rikers Island receiver’s role should look like. If the mayor leaves office as a result of his indictment on federal corruption charges before the judge’s deadline of Nov. 12, the city’s response to the order could look very different. (The mayor has pleaded not guilty to all charges and said he has no intention of stepping down, despite political pressure to do so.)

Enter, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Williams, who would step in to replace Adams for at most 80 days until a special election determines who serves out the remainder of the mayor’s term, would inherit responding to the judge’s order – a response that will unquestionably clash with what Adams would have sought. 

Adams has openly scoffed at a potential receivership and quipped that federal prisons are “definitely not a model of what prisons should look like,” when asked to comment on a potential federal receivership of city jails. Even though the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the agency that runs federal lockups, will have nothing to do with a receivership over Rikers, the mayor has repeated this misrepresentation.  

“The Department of Correction has made significant progress towards addressing the longstanding issues we are facing at Rikers, and Commissioner Maginley-Liddie has proven herself to the court and the monitor as the necessary steady hand to continue protecting those in our care and who work on Rikers Island,” a Mayor’s Office spokesperson said in an email to City & State. “We will review the judge’s instructions and look forward to conferring with the federal monitoring team on our shared goal of continuing to improve the safety of everyone in our jails."

By contrast, Williams has said, “receivership has become the only option,” in testimony before the City Council Committees on Criminal Justice and Oversight and Investigations in the spring of 2023.  Williams has been a constant presence at Criminal Justice Committee and Board of Correction hearings. Wednesday morning, while Adams appeared in front of  Judge Dale Ho at the Federal Courthouse, Williams stood surrounded by survivors of abuse in city lockups on the steps of City Hall.  According to his schedule, Wednesday evening he will attend the 11th Annual International Wrongful Conviction Day Event in Brooklyn. Williams didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

“Jumaane Williams has adopted a much more favorable attitude towards receivership than Mayor Adams, and has understood that conditions on Rikers simply cannot improve without bringing in a long-term, unbiased professional to turn the place around,” Serena Townsend, former DOC deputy commissioner of trials and investigations, told City & State. 

“Williams, in contrast to Adams, has taken time to educate himself about receivership and its benefits, so his input should be well-received by Judge Laura Swain,” Townsend explained, referring to the judge in a class action lawsuit deciding Rikers’ fate on receivership.  “Williams’ support of receivership should go a long way in influencing appointment of a federal receiver, as well as their ultimate responsibilities.  It is time we have leadership willing to look at old problems with new, sustainable solutions.”

Last week Swain, overseeing the class action lawsuit Nunez v. City of New York, issued an order asking all parties to define what a receiver would look like. It came in response to oral arguments over a motion brought by plaintiffs in the case who requested the city and Department of Correction be held in contempt for lack of compliance with court orders to make improvements. The outcome of the motion could trigger the appointment of a receiver to run the jails. However, the order Swain made Sept. 25 threw a new twist into the court case.

“I see a clear need for new measures addressing leadership and policy in DOC, whether or not I find the defendants in contempt,” Swain said before issuing the order. “DOC leaders are appointed on an at-will basis ... and they will seek to make their mark and build relationships with powerful stakeholders, often the unions. In the meantime while all of this is going on, lives are in danger. And so for that reason, whatever my decision as to the question of contempt, the next stage of this case will require we identify and operationalize targeted and tailored management to all of the other aspects of jail control.”

Swain ordered all parties, which include the plaintiffs, the defense, the monitor, their attorneys, the federal prosecutor’s office and DOC leadership, to meet within 45 days to develop a set of proposals based on her court orders. Their task: to succinctly identify what is essential to a receivership that seeks tangible reform and to come up with a fully fleshed-out description for a receiver that all parties could agree on. “The description has to include details such as whether a receiver would supplant or work alongside a commissioner; what the process would be; what the powers of the receiver would be and qualities that would render a person qualified for the position.” 

Williams, as mayor, would have a short time to align his interests with those of the DOC leadership and unions mentioned by the judge. “We are not going to comment on hypothetical situations while the current situation remains fluid,” Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association Spokesman Michael Skelly told City & State.

During a June 2023 status conference, Adams was singled-out by Swain for attempting to manipulate public perception of the status of Rikers, instead of focusing on working with a federal monitor assigned to the jail facility to address areas of concern. She commented that she was “shaken” by the way the mayor “has approached seeking to shape public opinion and public perception of these very serious issues that have been raised by the monitor.” Swain was referring to an interview the mayor had sat for with the former DOC Commissioner Louis Molina during which they downplayed incidents of violence on Rikers described in a recent monitor’s report.

Rikers is set to be replaced by four borough-based jails in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Williams at the 2023 City Council oversight hearing noted that “it is just as critical that receivership helps accelerate, rather than impede, the moral and legal obligation to finally close Rikers, and ensure its failures do not spread into the new borough-based system.”

Some advocates are already thinking about the broad effect Williams can bring to bear across a spectrum of issues on the criminal justice reform horizon.

"Mayor Adams has never seemed to truly understand the way Rikers undermines public safety. The Public Advocate on the other hand has consistently supported the closure of Rikers and measures to rein in DOC's worse abuses, like the elimination of solitary confinement” Darren Mack, co-director of Freedom Agenda, told City & State.  “If he is in a position to step in as interim mayor, we could expect to see a much more holistic approach to improving safety and interrupting cycles of violence in the community and on Rikers."