Did not respond to our questionnaire. The following is transcribed from Crain’s Business Mayoral Forum on 10.8.25, during which Andrew Cuomo announced this position in his opening remarks:

“And lets make a major start by stopping a major debacle, which is the new jail construction to replace Rikers Island. The writing is on the wall. It promises to be New York City’s big ditch. It is already years late, billions over budget, and obsolete. We should rebuild new state of the art jails on Rikers island, provide free bus service, and use those existing sites for housing and commercial development. It’s a great opportunity to start out of the box."

1. The existing plan to Close Rikers Island involves closing the Rikers Island jails (including the Boat in the Bronx), reducing the jail population to approximately 4,200 people in custody or less, and establishing four borough based jails as well as therapeutic housing units in three city hospitals. How would you support this implementation? Is there anything you would do to improve on this plan?

Firstly, I would comply with the law, and close Rikers. This includes ensuring we decarcerate our jail population. The city has for years paid lip service to decarceration while doing nothing to make it a reality, with a non-existent investment in actually reducing the number of people locked up. We have not sufficiently invested in alternatives to incarceration, and our courts have taken that lack of investment as a cue to continue shuffling people to Rikers. Dozens of people have died as a result, and tens of thousands of lives have been disrupted. 

My administration will change that. We will push the courts and DAs to pursue accountability while fully utilizing alternatives to incarceration as much as possible, invest in supportive housing, champion sentencing reform, and expand restorative justice processes. In tandem with my administration’s investment in alternatives to incarceration, I will work closely with MOCJ and OCA to ensure that our courts view the city’s support services, finally operating with meaningful funding, as viable alternatives to Rikers. I’ll coordinate with DAs to get more people to spend the pretrial period at home, and to use electronic monitoring rather than Rikers. I will also work to change the culture within DOC, which under Eric Adams has not cooperated with federal investigations into abuses and altogether stopped reporting on jail deaths. 

We’ll further drastically drive down the jail population by investing in supportive housing and mental health outreach. It costs $42,000 to provide someone transitional housing and services for a year, but the city instead spends $550,000 to lock someone up on Rikers. That’s not just cruel; it’s poor governance, too. My administration will invest in transitional housing and services which allow the City to decarcerate in a way it has not to date.

2. Recent reporting on the practice of “deadlocking” as well as allegations of sexual assault have highlighted the dangerous and dehumanizing conditions on Rikers, alongside several class action lawsuits, some decades-long. Yet, in recent years, Emergency Executive Orders have continually been issued to suspend portions of the Board of Correction’s minimum standards, including limits on solitary confinement, while internal conflicts have affected the Board’s work. As Mayor, what would you do to protect the human rights of incarcerated people? 

The first thing that needs to happen in order to protect the human rights of incarcerated people is to reduce the jail population. The city has for years paid lip service to decarceration while doing nothing to make it a reality. The city committed to reducing the jail population to under 4,000; when Eric Adams took office, 5,400 people were incarcerated. As his term nears its end, on May 24, the jail population sits at 7,564. This year, five people have died in DOC custody, and 38 under Eric Adams (a number that is likely an undercount). That is in part a function of jailing too many people. 

My administration will drive down the jail population by investing in supportive housing and mental health outreach, transitional housing and other services. This will allow it to actually decarcerate in a way it has not to date. We will also improve treatment within DOC facilities, which is woefully inadequate. Rikers is the second-largest mental health facility in the country — and the largest in our city. More than half of the people held on Rikers have mental health needs, yet mental health treatment in DOC facilities falls well short. Under my administration, the City will pair its decarceration efforts with an investment in community-based mental health treatment. 

That inadequacy extends to healthcare, too. Some months, people incarcerated on Rikers miss over 10,000 appointments – medical neglect for which DOC is responsible. My city will end that neglect and ensure adequate healthcare for all incarcerated people. 

Solitary confinement is torture and my mayoralty will end its practice after Eric Adams has fought to maintain its use. I will do so by ensuring Local Law 42 is enforced and charging my Department of Correction commissioner to implement an end to solitary confinement in NYC jails. 

I will also change the culture within DOC, which under Eric Adams has not cooperated with federal investigations into abuses and altogether stopped reporting on jail deaths. My administration will conduct a comprehensive survey of DOC staffing patterns and provide an affirmative vision for effective deployment. For years the City has lacked that vision, which has led to catastrophic mismanagement and preventable deaths. My administration will ensure that incarcerated people’s basic needs are met, that their rights are respected, and that abuse is rooted out. That vision will also include cooperating with the federal monitor overseeing Rikers, which the Adams administration has flouted to disastrous effect. 

Finally, I will implement recommendations from the Taskforce on Issues Faced by TGNCNBI People in Custody in order to ensure the law is actually followed and incarcerated trans New Yorkers are treated with dignity, including Intro 625. 

And above all else, I will talk regularly with formerly incarcerated New Yorkers about how to guarantee the rights of incarcerated New Yorkers.

3. The Independent Budget Office reported that the Department of Correction’s budget has remained relatively stable since 2014 despite a 45% reduction in the jail population, and despite approximately 1,400 anticipated vacancies among uniformed staff in FY2026 (out of 7,060 budgeted positions). The Independent Rikers Commission estimated that the borough-based jail system will require no more than 3,240 uniformed officers. What steps, if any, would you take to reduce DOC’s annual operating budget, transition their workforce, and redirect funding to resources like community based mental health services, supportive housing, alternatives to incarceration, and reentry services? 

We need to invest our resources in solutions that actually deliver safety. That's why I've proposed a Department of Community Safety, which will keep New Yorkers safe by pioneering evidence-proven approaches that have worked elsewhere in the country. Rikers Island inflicts immeasurable trauma and harm on incarcerated people, corrections officers, and their broader communities, which in the end makes us all less safe. Currently, attrition at DOC is very high. We can reduce DOC spending by simply eliminating uniformed vacancies and redeploying existing officers in critical posts instead of administrative roles. It is also crucial that we invest in better training for officers in de-escalation, mental health, and resilience. Doing so will improve conditions for officers and incarcerated people alike. Ultimately, however, we must reduce our overreliance on incarceration, shifting city funds so that we focus on preventing instability and crime instead of simply reacting in their aftermath with punishment.

4. The majority of people incarcerated in New York City jails retain the right to vote, but few are able to exercise this right.  Would you direct the Department of Correction, and encourage the Board of Election, to increase their efforts to facilitate voting in city jails? If yes, what specific actions would you take? 

Yes, I will. Mass incarceration shapes our elections and weakens our democracy. Public defenders say that DOC ignores its legal requirement to inform people in jail of their right to vote; I will instruct DOC to provide all eligible incarcerated voters with a packet of voter information, including an absentee ballot application, and also facilitate voter registration and early voting. I will also make more DOC resources available to guarantee the voting rights of incarcerated people. 

Finally, I will encourage the Board of Election to use nursing homes as a model for the level of support required in our jails. That includes the appointment of election inspectors in DOC facilities to eliminate the curing process.

5. Legislation passed in 2021, known as the “Renewable Rikers” laws, established a process for transitioning control of Rikers Island from the Department of Correction to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services for sustainability uses as the jails are closed, and feasibility studies released last year outlined the benefits of using the island for wastewater recovery and renewable energy.  What immediate next steps would you take toward implementing this plan?

My administration will support the immediate commencement of the master planning process for Renewable Rikers. The City will also transfer all lands no longer in use by DOC to DCAS, as mandated by Local Law 16 of 2021. After the land transfer, buildings will be demolished, allowing for geotechnical studies and remediation of land (80% of Rikers is built on decaying landfill) to proceed showing a commitment to the repurposing of land. Finally, I will appoint and empower an official whose sole job will be to coordinate the planning and implementation of Renewable Rikers.

Did not respond to our questionnaire. Per a “Reforming Rikers” plan on his campaign website: “Sliwa will keep Rikers Island open, closing it would be a disaster for public safety, leading to unworkable borough-based jails that lack capacity and security. [Sliwa pledges to] Renovate Rikers and improve conditions while ensuring it remains a secure and controlled facility, [and to] ensure proper staffing levels, hiring more correction officers and ensuring they have the support, training, and resources needed to do their jobs effectively.”