Two men died at Rikers Island in the past week, marking the first fatalities under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Barry Cozart and John Price, both held at different centers, died after medical emergencies, prompting the mayor’s pledge to “pursue every avenue” to shut the facility by 2027. The deaths underscore persistent safety failures at the troubled jail, where 100 inmates have died since 2015, including five in 2024.

A 2015 class-action lawsuit required a court-appointed monitor to oversee conditions, but the city’s progress toward closing Rikers remains sluggish. A 2019 law mandates closure by August 2027, yet four new borough jails are delayed, and the jail population has rebounded to 7,000. Mayor Mamdani and Commissioner Stanley Richards now face a court-appointed receiver, Nicholas Deml, who holds executive authority over the system.

Experts argue the deaths reveal systemic neglect, with Freedom Agenda’s Darren Mack calling Rikers a “hellhole” that must be closed. The mayor’s public acknowledgment of the deaths signals renewed urgency, though challenges persist in meeting the 2027 deadline.