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More than a decade after a settlement with the federal government aimed to stop the endemic violence on Rikers Island, six years since the City Council voted to close the jails by 2027, and less than a year since a federal judge overseeing conditions on the island announced things had gotten so bad that the system would soon be controlled by a court-appointed "remediation manager," Rikers remains an incredibly dangerous place for detainees and staff members alike, as Department of Correction officials continue to block reform efforts.
That's according to a new federal monitor's report, whose job it is to measure compliance with the 2015 settlement with the federal government.
"The reform effort continues to progress at a glacial pace," wrote the monitor Steve Martin, who noted that "internal and external obstacles, pervasive poor practices, and an entrenched culture that opposes and/or resists reform continue to hobble the Department’s ability to materially improve the jails' conditions with the necessary level of urgency."