Eric Adams said at a Thursday press conference that he will bring "punitive segregation" back to Rikers Island jail.
Adams, a retired New York Police Department chief, wants to reverse Mayor Bill de Blasio's decision this week to move inmates in all city jails from solitary confinement to the general population. New York Daily News reported that De Blasio was concerned about inhumane treatment and low staff.
"So the mayor said on December 31 he's going to end the segregation," said Adams.
He said that if they commit a violent act on January 1, they will be put back into segregation.
In extreme cases, time in isolation should be limited in order to separate violent inmates from the general population.
You don't go to jail when you commit a slashing on an inmate. Adams asked a question during the press conference. This is not making sense. If you say to a violent person that nothing is going to take you out of the general population so you don't slash other inmates, that sends a bad message.
He said he wants it to be segregation without being inhumane. He did not say what would happen.
The New York Times reported that he plans to eventually shut it down.
De Blasio said in a statement that he and the Mayor-elect both wanted a safe environment for staff and inmates.
He said that they created special units to keep inmates who commit violent acts separate from the general population.
In solitary confinement, prisoners are kept isolated and indoors for at least 22 hours per day, and it's possible that inmates are exposed to inhumane treatment and abuse. The United Nations recommended that all countries abolish solitary confinement.
The UN Special Rapporteur on torture said that solitary "torture" is contrary to the aim of the penitentiary system.
The Legal Aid Society's attorney-in-charge, Corey Stoughton, says that Rikers Island is inhumane because of a lack of access to toilets, showers, food, water, and medical care.
The incoming mayors have a plan on Day 1? Tiffany Cabn is a councilmember. It is a human rights violation to be locked up. We need to stop it.
Two of the 16 Rikers inmates have died within the past week. There were at least five deaths that were suicides. The New York City Department of Correction said that two inmates died after being released.
According to NYC Open Data, about 83% of Rikers Island inmates are there before their trial.
New York politicians have called it a humanitarian crisis, and many inmates are calling for the facility to be shut down.
Eric Adams is from New York.
Adams, who will be the city's second Black mayor, says he experienced police brutality as a teenager.
He said in a New York Times column that he wanted to change from the inside by joining the police department.
The United Nations, mayor-elect Eric Adams, and Mayor Bill de Blasio did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
