Mayor Eric Adams and the city Department of Correction will avoid a federal takeover of the dangerous Rikers Island jail complex for at least the next five months, even as new revelations arise about deplorable conditions.  

U.S. District Court Judge Laura Swain on Tuesday approved the city’s action plan to improve operations. She scheduled the next court hearing for November, essentially giving the Department of Correction five months to fix long festering issues like mass staff absences, attacks on officers and inmates, and cell doors with busted locks. Swain wrote that at that time, “further remedial relief” -- like putting control of the jails under a federal receiver -- “may be necessary should Defendants not fulfill their commitments and demonstrate their ability to make urgently needed changes.”

The Legal Aid Society, whose public defenders represent Rikers inmates, has sought a federal receiver, or takeover, of the jails. Inmate advocates and even a former correction commissioner have also called for it, saying there are too many union rules and city regulations that stymie needed improvements, and only a federal receiver would have the power to fix conditions. 

Swain’s decision came just as the Board of Correction, which oversees the department, concluded its monthly meeting where new details about horrific conditions were raised. Board member Bobby Cohen, who is also a doctor, said that last week he toured the intake facility at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers. He called it “frightening.”

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