Overview
- The North Infirmary Command was emptied and declared permanently closed on Monday after detainees with acute medical needs were moved to a new offsite therapeutic housing unit and to hospitals.
- The Department of Correction handed the NIC building to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which will draft plans for post‑prison uses that city officials say could include renewable‑energy and public projects.
- The therapeutic housing unit opened in April and currently serves about 104 people while NIC had recently housed as many as 223 people before transfers reduced its population to zero.
- City officials acknowledge the full Rikers shutdown required by law by August 2027 is unlikely and say they will seek an extension while roughly 6,700 people remain in custody across the island.
- Advocates hailed the NIC closure as a meaningful step after years of reports of violence, denied medical care, solitary confinement and rising in‑custody deaths, and Mayor Mamdani’s staffing choices, including appointing former inmate Stanley Richards as DOC commissioner, signal a reform focus going forward.