A classroom on Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

I spent three-and-a-half years on Rikers Island, as both an adolescent and adult. During this time, I experienced and witnessed countless episodes of abuse and neglect, including frequent medical and mental health neglect, and the inadequacy of programming that properly prepares those detained for community reentry. 

It appears that very little has changed in the 31 years since I was incarcerated, and conditions may have worsened. In the past

Mayor Adams & DOC Commissioner Molina on Rikers Island (photo: Benny Polatseck/Mayor's Office)

On Thursday, Speaker Adrienne Adams will chair a City Council hearing where leadership of the city’s Department of Correction (DOC) will share budget priorities. What may be perceived as a routine hearing impacts the future of thousands of New Yorkers currently suffering on Rikers Island and others who will be sent there.

DOC holds the lives of over 6,000 New Yorkers in its hands, and yet it has shown a brazen disregard for their well-being as well as the City Council’s oversight. If left

Guards on Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Mayor Adamssays we cannot look away from New Yorkers who are suffering. Yet, his new preliminary budget...

Mayor Adams on Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

The New York City Board of Correction, a nine-seat panel with oversight over city jails, may soon have two new members including a former Rikers Island doctor critical of mass incarceration and a national expert on corrections policy who now leads the advocacy group that successfully advocated for the planned closure of the Rikers jail complex.

The City Council’s Committee on Rules, Privileges and Elections on Wednesday held a hearing to question two of its own Board of Correction nominees – Dr. Rachael Bedard, former senior

Protesting conditions on Rikers (photo: Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit)

Stephanie grew up without a stable family and ended up in an abusive relationship with a boyfriend. A cycle of physical and emotional violence continued for years, leading to Stephanie giving him drugs while he was in prison, which resulted in her incarceration.

When she was released and returned to the city, Stephanie’s boyfriend raped her, and she became pregnant. Afraid for her life, she went to a domestic violence shelter. Stephanie’s parole

Mayor Adams at Rikers (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

As the crisis on Rikers Island continues and the death toll soars, Mayor Eric Adamstold New Yorkers last week that there needs to be a “plan B” for the city’s plan to shutter the notorious jail complex, suggesting he may not close Rikers at all. This

Mayor Adams visits Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

August 19, 2022 - Experts Call for a Federal Receiver for Rikers Island

New York City criminal justice system veterans Elizabeth Glazer and Vincent Schiraldi joined the show to discuss their experience working in city government, the crisis at Rikers Island jails and what do about it and other problems plaguing the city's larger safety ecosystem.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen

On Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

July 15, 2022 marked the day that 34-year-oldMichael Lopez died of an overdose...

Mayor Adams visits Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The U.S. criminal justice system is at a crossroads. After the killing of George Floyd, there werebipartisan

‘A City Everyone Can See Themselves In’: Carlina Rivera Launches Bid for New York's New 10th Congressional District

Lincoln Restler & Shahana Hanif (photos: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

The newly-seated 51-member New York City Council has a particularly large progressive wing, with a whopping 34 members, including Speaker Adrienne Adams, signing up for the Progressive Caucus. That caucus, which seeks to pull the Council leftward and is already acting as a counterweight to a more moderate mayor, especially on policing issues, is led by co-chairs Shahana Hanif and Lincoln Restler, two Brooklyn Democrats selected by their fellow caucus members.

Solving The Crisis of Rikers Now and In The Future

Inside Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

In 1894, the framers of New York’s most recent constitution created the State Commission of Correction. With eight members, the Commission was empowered to visit and inspect all penal institutions in New York State and to promote their “humane and efficient administration.”

Clearly, they are failing: New York’s correctional institutions are neither “humane or efficient” today. Rikers

Eric Adams at church (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Throughout his campaign, Mayor Eric Adams spoke about the dysfunction that plagues our city, stemming from a failure to go ‘upstream’ to address the problems we face. There is no more tragic example of this than Rikers Island, where conditions are so dire that hundreds of incarcerated people have launched a hunger strike.

The moral costs of this stain

Council Member Diana Ayala (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)

The New York City Council Speaker should be someone who deeply understands people’s struggles and will take a social services focus to the powerful leadership position, argues City Council Member Diana Ayala.

During a recent appearance on the Max Politics podcast from Gotham Gazette, Ayala discussed her experience representing the 8th Council District, which includes East Harlem and

Gov. Hochul signs the Less Is More Act (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor)

The state of New York took a moral step recently when Governor Hochul signed into law the Less Is More Act, which aims to soften the draconian parole laws that have disproportionately harmed people of color. Nearly 200 New Yorkers re-joined their families as soon as the bill became law, freeing them from

Cleaning up at Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The deaths this year of 14 people held on Rikers Island and recent reports of inhumane conditions have renewed attention on the dereliction of one of the country's largest municipal jail systems.

That includes from the lead sponsor of a bill in the state Legislature that would create an oversight board and statewide ombudsperson with jurisdiction over local jails and state prisons. The bill's

Mayor de Blasio on Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Just over a year ago, the city of New York did something special, a monumental achievement not seen since the end of World War II. In May of 2020, for the first time since 1946, the average daily population (ADP) of city jails dropped below 4,000.

A combination that included the plan toward a reduced-capacity borough-based jail system, significant bail reform taking accused people’s ability to pay into account, and transitional housing facilities like the ones

A 'jails to jobs' event (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The humanitarian crisis at Rikers Island is alarming. Criminal justice reform advocates and elected officials are right to demand an end to the violence, death, and chaos. Governor Kathy Hochul deserves praise for ordering the release of nearly 200 detainees. 

But what happens to New Yorkers after they leave Rikers and other correctional facilities?

That’s a key question few in public life are asking.

Here’s the reality: New Yorkers seeking to re-enter our

Mayor de Blasio & company make an announcement (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

What is going on at Rikers Island? As former physicians on Rikers Island and in other city jails, we have been horrified to hear of the unsafe, unhygienic, violent, and deadly conditions there. Over 12 people have died this year alone. To prevent more suffering and death, courts need to release thousands of people immediately and to stop sending more people in.

Despite limitations associated with the jail setting, we worked hard to provide excellent medical

Lights honoring transgender New Yorkers (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)

When I learned that a transgender woman was incarcerated with men on Rikers Island last week, it hit close to home for me. I know from experience what it feels like to be a transgender woman in jail surrounded by men. It's a mix of trauma, fear, and humiliation.

There are far too many stories of transgender

Council Member Keith Powers (photo: City Council)

City Council Member Keith Powers has the crisis in the city’s Rikers Island jail complex directly on his plate. The Manhattan Democrat is chair of the Council’s Committee on Criminal Justice and therefore responsible for one key layer of oversight of city jails.

Just after convening an emergency meeting about conditions on Rikers with several key city officials and ahead of chairing a formal City Council oversight hearing on the subject, ...

Rikers Island (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

There is a humanitarian crisis unfolding right before our very eyes on Rikers Island. The conditions that incarcerated individuals and staff are subjected to at the city’s jail complex — conditions that have been reported and documented by news accounts and the personal observations of many of my colleagues in government — are on par with, perhaps even worse than, what we expect to read about in countries without a commitment to human rights.

As my colleague Assembly Member

City Council Member Keith Powers (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)

September 8, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Keith Powers on Oversight of City Jails & More

City Council Member Keith Powers, a Manhattan Democrat who chairs the Council's criminal justice committee, joined the show to discuss the crisis in city jails and the steps he's taking and monitoring to improve conditions, including an emergency stakeholder meeting he coordinated and a Council oversight hearing he will soon chair. Powers also discussed efforts to

Mayor de Blasio at Rikers (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

June is Torture Awareness Month and it is also the month we both lost our siblings — Kalief Browder and Layleen Polanco — because of the torture of solitary confinement. No other family should ever have to go through the pain and torment our baby brother and baby sister suffered and we continue to suffer. Political leaders from New York City to Washington, D.C. have repeatedly invoked Kalief’s and Layleen’s names to promise to end solitary confinement. Now is the time they must