New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Monday, July 1, that the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island has been permanently closed, marking what his administration is calling an important step toward the complete shutdown of one of the most controversial jail complexes in the country.
The North Infirmary Command most recently housed 223 people with acute medical needs requiring hospital-level care. Those detainees have been transferred to a newly built therapeutic housing unit at Bellevue Hospital in Kips Bay, which was designed specifically with that population in mind. “Bellevue is designed intentionally by color and scheme and fabric to be a more therapeutic and supportive place,” said Dr. Patsy Yang, senior VP of correctional health services at NYC Health + Hospitals.
Mamdani addressed the weight of the moment directly. “We are replacing a system built around neglect with one centered on rehabilitation and accountability because public safety and human dignity are not competing values,” he said in his announcement, describing the closure as a “milestone” that “brings us closer to ending that chapter.”
The chapter he referenced has been defined by decades of documented abuse, violence, and gross violations of the rights of detainees, the overwhelming majority of whom are Black and Latino residents of New York City awaiting trial rather than serving sentences. Two of the most high-profile cases tied to Rikers involve Kalief Browder, a Bronx teenager who was held for three years — including 400 days in solitary confinement — on charges of stealing a backpack before the case was dismissed. He died by suicide two years after his release. Korey Wise, the oldest of the Exonerated Five and the only one tried as an adult in the Central Park Five case, also spent years at Rikers, where he suffered physical abuse and extended periods of solitary confinement before his wrongful conviction was vacated.
New York City is legally required to close the entire Rikers Island complex by August 2027. Mamdani acknowledged in April that meeting that deadline would be “practically impossible” given how far the city fell behind under previous administrations, but his team has said they are committed to the trajectory. Department of Corrections Commissioner Stanley Richards reinforced that commitment in a statement. “We’re gonna build facilities centered on humanity and dignity of those who come to us,” he said.
The closure of the North Infirmary Command is the first concrete facility-level step under Mamdani’s administration toward that goal.
