New York City lawmakers warned Monday that a new prison on Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue would be a “disaster” for the city after the planned number of beds for the mentally ill was cut in half. .
City Councilman Lincoln Ressler slams city health department and hospital officials for how the city is prepared to treat mentally ill suspects in ward jails after Rikers Island closes did.
He said 55% of inmates at Rikers need mental health treatment, that the Brooklyn jail has only 22% of beds scheduled for mentally ill people, and that 44% of beds are initially He pointed out that the funding has decreased.
“It’s disastrous that 55% of the total population has a mental health designation, but only 22% of the beds are actually designed to meet their needs.” Downtown Brooklyn said Ressler, a Democrat who represents the.
The question comes after a series of shocking crimes allegedly committed by a serial offender with a history of mental illness, including a completely unprovoked attack on tourists near Times Square on Saturday. They include Cyril Destin, 62, who is accused of stabbing a customer.
On Friday, suspect Shaquan Cummings, who also suffers from mental illness, allegedly slashed an 11-year-old boy in the head without warning in Harlem.
“Correctional Health Services provides what those settings need to provide,” said Dr. Patsy Yang, senior vice president of H&H.
“That’s currently being done at the Rikers facility, and we certainly intend to do that at the new prison,” Yang added.
“But we’re actually designing a prison where 22 percent of the beds meet their needs,” Ressler shot back.
“This is such a disconnect that it’s hard to convince voters that we’re actually going to improve it. I hope that together we can come up with operational solutions that inspire that confidence.” There is.”
In 2019, the City Council, with the support of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, signed a mandate to close Rikers by 2027.
The $8.7 billion project would replace the central prison with smaller jails in each borough except Staten Island.
Advocates say this would make it easier for families to visit inmates.
But since taking office, Mr. Adams has repeatedly expressed concerns about meeting deadlines.
There are also calls for a new Rikers psychiatric hospital to ease pressure on the prison system.
The move comes after Michael Alcazar, a former NYPD detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College, described the system as “broken.”
He pointed to a repeat offender known as “Icepick Nick” who was featured in The Sunday Post who was repeatedly arrested, taken to hospital for treatment, and then released.
Only after the Post began investigating did prosecutors indict him on charges serious enough to require bail and keep him in jail.
