House Democrats Call on de Blasio to Brief Congress on Rikers Crisis
The New York Times
As the jail has descended further into crisis, federal and state officials have shown increasing skepticism about the city’s ability to manage it.
A trio of House Democrats has asked Mayor Bill de Blasio to brief Congress by next week on what they called “unacceptable conditions” at the jail complex on Rikers Island.
The Democrats — Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Jamie Raskin of Maryland — filed a letter on Monday requesting a congressional briefing from Mr. de Blasio and the commissioner of the city’s Department of Correction, Vincent Schiraldi by Monday of next week.
The letter also called on the mayor to release low-level offenders into supervised programs in order to address overcrowding at the jail complex, which is under the control of New York City officials and where about 5,000 people were being held as of Monday morning.
