New York will miss deadline to close Rikers, public contract notice says

New York may push back the 2027 closing deadline for Rikers Island by two years, according to the city’s contract public notice released Monday.

In a notice published in the City Record by the Department of Engineering and Construction, a hearing was announced to consider awarding a contract to Tutor Perini Corp. to build the new Brooklyn City Jail.

The notice states that the contract will run for 2,317 days from the date of the continuation notice — or just over six years — with a completion date in 2029, two years behind the deadline.

Demolition of the old Brooklyn detention house on the same lot at 275 Atlantic Avenue has already begun.

In 2019, Mayor de Blasio signed a City Council bill that would close prisons on Rikers Island by August 2027 and build new prisons in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan along with hundreds of new hospital beds. .

“I can’t think of any explanation why they would have a contract that’s two years over the deadline if the city wasn’t postponing jail time,” said Zachary Katznelson, policy director for the New York City Independent Criminal Justice and Criminal Justice Commission. York. Prison reform.

“The idea that borough prisons will not be ready by 2027 is unacceptable. Rikers needs to be shut down. We have a legal deadline of August 2027. We need to finish the prison and the hospital beds by then. How is it possible to build a prison in six years?”

The proposed contract is valued in the notice at $2.9 billion, paid for in bonds redeemed over 30 years. The full plan to shut down Rikers is valued at a minimum of $8.5 billion.

“Delaying the closure of this dangerous site undermines public safety and puts both staff and inmates at risk,” said Jonathan Lippman, former Chairman of the Close Rikers Commission and former New York State Chief Justice.

“The city must build safe hospital beds and city jails to replace the Rikers, and do it in time.”

Officials from the DDC, correctional facility and city hall did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The notice states that a contract hearing has been scheduled for March 23 at Zoom.