You are reading

Rikers Inmate Tests Positive for COVID-19; City to Release 40 Vulnerable Inmates

Stock Photo Unsplash

March 20, 2020 By Allie Griffin

New York City will release 40 inmates on Rikers Island who are vulnerable of complications associated with the novel coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

The individuals have been chosen based on specific health vulnerabilities and their low-risk status, as non-threatening and unlikely to reoffend.

The NYPD and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice are reviewing more potential cases for release, which must be signed off on by the relevant district attorney and/or the state of New York, de Blasio said.

The City also confirmed its first case of an inmate on Rikers Island who tested positive for COVID-19.

The inmate is in his early 30s and is doing okay, health-wise, de Blasio said. He is currently in isolation at the facility’s communicable disease unit.

Eight fellow inmates who shared a housing unit with the man have exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 and are also in isolation in the communicable disease unit.

On Wednesday, the Chief Physician of Rikers Island Ross MacDonald warned that “a storm is coming,” should coronavirus reach the island’s sprawling prison system.

He asked that the City let out as many inmates as possible.

“A storm is coming and I know what I’ll be doing when it claims my first patient. What will you be doing? What will you have done? We have told you who is at risk,” MacDonald wrote on Twitter. “Please let as many out as you possibly can.”

Meanwhile, Tiffany Caban, who was narrowly defeated by Melinda Katz in last year’s Democratic primary to be Queens District Attorney, called on the Mayor to release more prisoners given the crisis.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

MTA seizes 19 ‘ghost’ cars registered to toll violators at Queens Midtown Tunnel on Monday

Two days before the MTA Board approved the controversial congestion pricing plan for Manhattan on Wednesday, the agency cracked down on persistent toll violators at the Queens Midtown Tunnel in Long Island City.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels seized 19 vehicles registered to persistent scofflaws on Monday and issued 81 summonses and confiscated two fraudulent incense plates. The MTA noted that the scofflaws accounted for approximately $483,000 in combined unpaid tolls and fees. One of the top persistent toll violators from the targeted enforcement owed nearly $76,000 in tolls and fees.