Mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo speaks throughout a Democratic mayoral discussion board at Medgar Evers Faculty in New York Metropolis, U.S., April 23, 2025. REUTERS/David ‘Dee’ Delgado
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated Sunday that, if elected New York Metropolis mayor, he would start relocating folks with severe psychological sickness from Rikers Island to supportive housing throughout the first 30 days of his administration.
Talking at a Metro IAF gathering in Brooklyn, Cuomo additionally pledged to reinstate a pandemic-era coverage of nightly removals of unhoused people from subway trains and stations, saying it might assist assess wants and join folks with companies.
Cuomo, the present polling frontrunner within the Democratic major, referred to as the troubled jail advanced “an absurd disgrace and abuse of taxpayers” and vowed to maneuver non-violent detainees with vital psychological well being wants into community-based group properties and remedy services. He didn’t specify how many individuals would qualify or define logistics past the 30-day timeframe.
Underneath his proposal, solely people who usually are not charged with violent crimes and usually are not thought-about a hazard to others could be eligible for switch.
Rikers Island has confronted mounting criticism and federal oversight attributable to persistent violence and unsafe circumstances. In March, a report by the Unbiased Rikers Fee discovered that of the 6,800 inmates, 57% of the jail inhabitants has a psychological sickness, together with 83% of girls. Round 1,400 detainees, or 21%, are categorised as having a severe psychological sickness.
“As Mayor, I will begin having the significantly mentally ill removed from Rikers within 30 days and placed in community group homes and supportive housing with appropriate mental health facilities, provided that they are not a danger to others or have not been accused of a violent offense,” Cuomo stated. “This will generate tremendous savings, as supportive housing beds, on average, cost approximately $24,000 per year.”
In contrast, the Fee reported the annual value of incarcerating somebody at Rikers is roughly $400,000.
Cuomo’s remarks come as Rikers awaits the appointment of a federally mandated remediation supervisor, following a court docket order putting the power underneath receivership final month. The supervisor can be accountable for addressing constitutional violations, particularly associated to security, leaving the destiny of the deliberate 2027 closure of the advanced unsure.
Cuomo’s subway homelessness plan echoes COVID-era practices, which he argued have been efficient in stabilizing transit security and connecting folks with care. “The New York City subway system is not a sustainable living arrangement,” he stated. “We know what works because we have successfully done it before. We will do it again.”
The homelessness and psychological well being proposals are a part of a broader public security platform on the coronary heart of Cuomo’s marketing campaign. His marquee proposal is to broaden the NYPD by 5,000 officers — a 15% improve — bringing the entire pressure to just about 39,000. His marketing campaign argues the price could be offset by lowering additional time spending.
Cuomo has additionally referred to as for doubling the variety of officers within the subway system to 4,000, putting in quicker, high-barrier turnstiles, creating an MTA fare-evasion enforcement unit, and appointing a subway security director inside Metropolis Corridor.
Underneath his psychological well being plan, centered on prevention and disaster intervention, Cuomo proposes a centralized outreach unit, extra low-barrier housing, expanded cellular disaster groups, and elevated psychiatric mattress capability, together with forensic beds. Nonetheless, critics of Cuomo have been fast to level out his document on psychological well being companies throughout his governorship, when his administration took lots of of beds out of the state psychiatric hospital system.
When Cuomo printed the plan on Could 6, fellow mayoral candidate Brad Lander his plan to repair psychological well being disaster “is like an arsonist saying he’ll put out a fire.”
“Everyone knows that when Andrew Cuomo was governor, he deliberately gutted our mental health services, slashing thousands of beds, which helped cause the dire situation on our streets and subways that afflicts New York to this day,” Lander stated.
