A delay in construction of a new Brooklyn jail is causing justice reform advocates and formerly incarcerated leaders to doubt Mayor Eric Adams’ commitment to closing Rikers Island by the agreed-upon August 2027 deadline.
According to a public notice by the city’s Department of Design and Construction, a contract for building the borough’s new jail in Downtown Brooklyn will run over six years from the date of approval to proceed. This will take operations into 2029 — two years past the mandated deadline for shuttering Rikers.
According to a spokesman for Mayor Adams, the later completion date for the Brooklyn jail doesn’t mean the city is going to miss Rikers’ 2027 deadline.
