Cuomo Slams Mamdani’s Plan to Empty Rikers Inmates onto City Streets as NYC Faces Looming Public Safety Crisis
With Rikers Closure Scheduled for 2027, Mamdani Jails Proposal Does Not Provide Enough Beds to House All Inmates, Putting Community Safety at Risk Mamdani is Advancing Radical DSA Agenda to Close Local Jails and Free All Prisoners
Andrew Cuomo, candidate for Mayor of New York City, today sharply criticized Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s reckless proposal to shutter Rikers Island without a viable alternative, warning that his commitment to implement former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s failed four-borough jail scheme would empty Rikers prisoners onto city streets even as the plan remains behind schedule and billions over budget.
The Mamdani-de Blasio plan envisioned a capacity of 3,300 beds — less than half of the current Rikers population, which exceeded 7,000 inmates in March 2025. Without enough beds to house all prisoners, this will result in placing these inmates into communities without taking into consideration the level of dangerousness and public consideration input across the five boroughs.
“Mamdani’s plan to close Rikers without any workable alternative is nothing short of reckless,” Cuomo said. “It follows the DSA’s dangerous blueprint to abolish jails outright — unleashing chaos, jeopardizing public safety, and putting our neighborhoods at risk. Once Rikers closes under Mamdani’s plan, there will be nowhere to house over half of the city’s inmate population. This isn’t reform — it’s an experiment in lawlessness.”
Cuomo noted that the City’s current four-borough jail plan is deeply behind schedule, logistically unworkable, and fiscally unsustainable. The original plan projected $8 billion in costs; current estimates have ballooned to $15–16 billion, nearly double the original price tag.
The City’s Budget Director has already admitted the August 31, 2027 closure deadline will not be met.
Through a combination of neglect and activism, Mamdani is advancing the ultimate goal of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — to “decarcerate New York.” This agenda aligns squarely with his pledge to defund the police, dismantle the city’s public safety framework, and reduce incarceration without any plan to keep communities safe.
Mamdani is fulfilling his plan to enact the DSA platform he ran on in 2020 when he first campaigned for Assembly — a platform that called for both the closure of Rikers Island and opposition to the construction of any new jails.
Under current law, Rikers must close by 2027, but Mamdani has made clear that he will simply allow the city’s broken system to collapse under its own weight. While he now claims he will follow the de Blasio plan “as is” — even though it’s billions over budget, years behind schedule, and nowhere near completion — it’s the same position he held in 2020. He’s just planning to achieve the DSA’s goal of decarceration by neglect rather than governance.
Mamdani has a deep alignment with the DSA’s radical approach to public safety and criminal justice. Under the DSA’s official platform, elected members pledge to support sweeping “decarceral” legislation. This is consistent with the DSA’s national platform to defund the police by rejecting any expansion to police budgets or scope of enforcement while cutting budgets annually towards zero.
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