NYC Takes First Concrete Step Toward Closing Rikers Island

NEW YORK, NY — The City opened its first therapeutic housing unit, moving incarcerated people with serious medical needs out of Rikers Island and into a hospital-based setting as part of its plan to shut down the jail complex, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Tuesday.

The 104-bed unit at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue in Kips Bay will serve detainees with complex conditions, including cancer and congestive heart failure, who do not require full hospitalization but face heightened risks in traditional jail facilities.

“For too long, people with serious medical needs have been left to suffer in a system that was never designed to care for them,” Mamdani said.

At least 11 people died in New York City Department of Correction custody in 2025 as of early November, with deaths tied to drug overdoses, acute medical crises and cases that raised concerns about possible negligence, according to City data.

“Medical care has been difficult to access for those in the correctional system, particularly those at Rikers Island. That ends now,” Helen Arteaga, deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, said.

First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan called the opening “an important step forward on the journey to closing Rikers.”

The unit operates with clinical care led by Correctional Health Services, while the Department of Correction provides security and custody management.

Officials said the facility meets standards set by the New York City Board of Correction and the New York State Commission of Correction.

The Bellevue site is the first of three planned units. Additional facilities at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull and North Central Bronx are expected to add 144 and 92 beds, focusing primarily on detainees with significant mental health needs.