(New York, October 16, 2025) – Independent mayoral candidate and former governor Andrew Cuomo visited the Chinatown Chinese Community Center on Wednesday afternoon to outline his “Rebuild Rikers Island” plan. He criticized his opponent, Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, for his proposal to close Rikers Island prison and warned that Mamdani could potentially “release 7,000 inmates”.
Cuomo emphasized that the current state of Rikers Island prison is a human rights failure. He proposed constructing modern facilities on Rikers Island while developing affordable multifunctional housing at the locations of four community jails.
Highlighting Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) position, Cuomo reminded people not to forget this aspect in Mamdani’s stance.
Cuomo pointed out Mamdani’s earlier opposition to the plan by David E. White (to replace Rikers Island prison with community jails), aligning with the DSA’s agenda of halting all new prison construction and closing existing facilities. Cuomo emphasized that Mamdani’s timeline for closing Rikers Island by 2027 is impractical, given the delays in constructing community jails.
The city government has acknowledged that the community jails are far from completion and will take many years to finish.
Cuomo stated Mamdani has two options in fulfilling his promise to close Rikers Island by 2027: either build new prisons for inmate relocation or release the 7,000 inmates on Rikers Island due to the unpreparedness of community jails. Cuomo criticized Mamdani’s plan as aligning with a vision of “prison abolition” and warned about the chaos and public safety risks it may bring.
Cuomo reiterated in a statement that Mamdani’s plan to close Rikers Island without viable alternatives is reckless and follows a dangerous blueprint of the DSA. He highlighted the potential crisis of over half of the city’s inmates being left without a place to go if Rikers Island were shut down under Mamdani’s plan.
Before Cuomo arrived, his team of architects presented a redevelopment plan for Rikers Island, including a humanized and modernized prison with mental health therapy services, along with free rapid bus services from the city to Rikers Island. The plan received positive feedback from the community.
Cuomo expressed that building upon the existing infrastructure of Rikers Island for community development could positively serve the neighborhood by creating affordable housing and more commercial spaces.
Cuomo’s words were met with applause from the community residents. Our attempts to reach out to Mamdani’s team for comments were unsuccessful.