NYC NOW - Midday News: Adams Opens Rikers to Federal Agents, Watchdog Group Proposes Mayoral Recall Elections, and Families Seek Answers in Rikers Deaths

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams is allowing federal agencies like ICE and the FBI to establish offices on Rikers Island for the first time in a decade, raising questions about transparency and the city’s sanctuary policies. Meanwhile, the good-government group Citizens Union is proposing a new law that would let voters recall future mayors, citing Adams’ recent corruption scandal. Plus, families of Rikers Island detainees who died in custody this year say they’re struggling to learn how their loved ones passed. WNYC’s Brittany Kriegstein reports.

NYC, how I see, YC now. Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, April 9th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. The Adams administration says it's allowing immigration and federal agents

to work out of Rikers Island for the first time in a decade. The order says this decision aims to support law enforcement efforts against a alleged international gang members. City Hall says it's not meant to facilitate civil deportations of undocumented immigrants, something New York City's sanctuary laws prohibit. Immigration and customs enforcement, the FBI and other agencies will be able to keep offices on Rikers. The executive order does not specify when the offices will open, how much space they'll get, or who will cover the costs. Adams' office says this will make the city safer. ICE did not respond to our request for comment. A good government group is pitching a plan today to let voters remove a future

mayor from office through a special election. WNIC's Bridget Bergen reports Citizens Union is responding to Eric Adams' corruption scandal. Under their plan, a mayor could be removed for misconduct. A supermajority of the city council would need to adopt a resolution detailing the charges. Then there would be a public hearing where the mayor would be entitled to legal representation. If 80% of the council recommends removal, then the question would go to voters in a special removal election. John Avlon chairs the Citizen Union Board. The moment makes it clear that New York needs a means to remove a mayor for misconduct. The plan is to pitch this to the mayor's charter revision commission.

And if they don't bite, there's always the council, which is also running its own commission. Stay close. There's more after the break. NYC. Five Rikers Island detainees have died so far this year while in city custody or shortly after their release. WNYC's Brittany Kriegstein has spoken to several of the detainees families. They say it's been incredibly hard to get any information about how their loved ones died in city custody. Brittany, what exactly have these families told you?

So far I've spoken to the families of Terence Moore, who died. on February 24th, Ariel Quedone, who died on March 15th, and Deshawn Jenkins, who died just two weeks later on March 31st. Now, they all came to Rikers for different reasons and died under slightly different circumstances, according to what we know from the Department of Correction Officials, but here's where their stories overlap, which is key. In each case, relatives say it's been hard to find consistent answers about what happened to them. Take the case of Terence Moore, Michael. Officials say the 55-year-old died while in a holding pen at Manhattan criminal court on a day when he was scheduled to appear in front of a judge. The Department of Correction put out a

report saying he died of a seizure, but the Board of Correction, which is a watchdog agency that oversees Rikers, put out their report saying he was found lethargic and vomiting in the holding pen after smoking some sort of drug. And I went to his funeral and family members like his brother, Kerry Moore, told me neither of those explanations make sense. He says that his brother had no history of seizures or drug use. I don't know what happened that day, but all I know is he was in DOC custodies and DOC has a duty to make sure everyone walks in their custody, try to come out that custody, same way they walk there. Right. And DOC in this case, I just want to point out, that refers to the Department of Correction.

Other families, Michael, they say similar things. They say they've dealt with these inconsistencies in the information they're getting from the Department of Correction. Brinney, what is protocol for the Department of Correction when someone dies? What are they supposed to do? So they're supposed to dispatch a chaplain to notify families in person. But several of these families say that's not how they found out. In the case of 20-year-old Ariel Quodon, his mother-in, sister actually came to court, they were waiting for his scheduled appearance on robbery charges.

Yeah, and he didn't show up and they got really concerned. So they called around to the DOC and eventually found out from correction staff that Ariel was really sick and had been taken to Elmer's hospital. He died a few days later of untreated appendicitis, according to the family's lawyer. And they say it's still been hard to get answers from the DOC because Ariel was actually released from custody right before he died. Now, the DOC has told me they didn't get in touch with Ariel's family because technically, Michael, he was no longer in their care when he died. Why does that prologue call seem to be breaking down? Why are families not getting notified in a timely manner? So there's another side to this story. I've been speaking to Mark Bolaro,

a retired assistant deputy warden who spent 29 years working on Rikers. So he really knows the ins and outs. And he says that sometimes detainees don't provide good contact information or addresses for their loved ones. So it's not always the department's fault that they can't get in touch. But he also says that an increase in lawlessness at the jail complex is sucking resources away from other aspects of care for the people on Rikers, which of course is resulting in more deaths and disorganization. The majority of DOC's resources are being used to try to put down these these, these, these problems instead of caring for the inmates. So five people, Brittany, have died in custody so far this year, and you've been tracking the

deaths very closely. WNYC listeners have been hearing your reports, but Britt, how does that compare to past years? Well, it's been a bad few weeks on Rikers Island. Five people died in city custody within all of last year. So this year's numbers are already on pace to exceed that. It's important to remember that. Some people do come to Rikers with mental health and physical health issues that can be serious and result in death, but it's also a sign of what's happening at the complex if correction staff aren't noticing or properly responding when people are in distress. Now, Mark Bolaro says Rikers is a lot more violent and dangerous now than it was a few years ago. When he worked there in 2008, these are

pretty staggering numbers. There were about 14,000 people in custody and 19 slashings. remember that 19 slashings. In 2022, the mayor's management report shows they were around 5,500 detainees and almost 500 slashings. That same year in 2022, 19 detainees died while in or shortly after being released from DOC custody, which was the highest number in a quarter century. What does city officials say about the deaths, Britain, and families' complaints about a lack of consistent communication? Well, the Department of Correction wouldn't comment on pending investigations, but they say every death is a tragedy. Officials say they work quickly to notify next of kin when someone dies in

custody, and they sometimes have to try different methods to track down relatives as we talked about who aren't maybe listed in a detainee's records. Now, the Board of Correction, which is that watchdog agency, is also continuing to review the recent deaths. But part of the- the complication here is that autopsies by the city's chief medical examiner can take weeks or months to be completed, so families are left mourning and organizing funerals without the official causes of deaths for their loved ones for these detainees. WNIC's Brittany Crickstein tracking down the communication issues between those at the Board of Correction and the Department of Correction and families in need of information about what's

happen to their loved ones in city custody. Brittany, thank you. Thank you so much, Michael. Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WMYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

See you this evening.