Cuomo Calls to Rebuild Rikers Island Jail, Spurning Plan to Close Complex

Former governor and current New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo has stirred controversy by calling for a rebuild of the Rikers Island jail complex — rejecting the city’s existing plan to shut it down and replace it with four borough-based jails by 2027. 

Cuomo says the closure plan is behind schedule, over budget, and not serving communities. His proposal would keep Rikers operational while incrementally rebuilding and redirect the original borough jail sites into affordable housing or mixed-use developments. 

What Cuomo Is Proposing

• Instead of tearing down Rikers, Cuomo wants to rebuild it one facility at a time, maintaining operations throughout construction.  
• He argues the four‑jail plan has ballooned in cost, missed deadlines, and placed undue burden on neighborhoods.  
• Cuomo would convert the four sites originally meant for the new jails into housing or commercial developments — an attempt to reimagine the use of those city lands.  
• He compares his vision to prior infrastructure projects, saying Rikers should be rebuilt “the right way” rather than rushed into a flawed closure plan.  

What He’s Reversing From Earlier Plans

• The 2019 city law mandates that Rikers must be closed and replaced by four smaller jails, each located in a different borough.  
• The current replacement plan has been severely delayed, with only one of the new jails (in Brooklyn) under construction.  
• Critics — including former Rikers Commission chair Jonathan Lippman — have consistently warned that Rikers’ conditions are intolerable, citing over 70 deaths since 2020 and structural decay.  

Criticism & Risks of Cuomo’s Plan

• Opponents argue that rebuilding Rikers perpetuates a facility with a long history of abuse, violence, and federal oversight.  
• Others say the rebuild concept is fiscally unrealistic — structural challenges of building on the island, while holding operations, could raise costs further.  
• Detractors see Cuomo’s flip as a political maneuver to gain support among voters skeptical of the closure plan’s feasibility.  
• City law requires Rikers to close by 2027. Reversing that plan could conflict with binding legal mandates unless they are amended.  

What Will Determine the Outcome

• Whether Cuomo’s plan can win support from City Council, state legislators, and legal bodies tasked with overseeing the Rikers shutdown.
• The financial feasibility of rebuilding while maintaining operations and mitigating cost overruns.
• The reactions of reform advocates, victims’ families, and those pushing for decarceration and humane jail alternatives.
• How the public responds: whether residents see rebuilding as a step backward or a pragmatic solution.