New Yorks Last Prison Ship is Now Closed - Crisis at Rikers Island

Just days before a federal judge begins to hear arguments in favor of appointing a third party to run the beleaguered city jail system, the head of the Department of Correction is leaving to take a position in City Hall. Commissioner Louis Molina will step down from his role in charge of Rikers Island and other city lockups “sometime in November, and his replacement will be named in the coming weeks,” said City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamalek. Late Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams named Molina, a former NYPD detective, assistant deputy mayor for public safety. He will serve under Deputy Mayor Philip Banks who oversees the NYPD and the city’s other uniformed law-enforcement agencies. “Public safety and justice are the prerequisites to prosperity, and that’s why, every day, Louis Molina gets up and ensures we are delivering both those priorities to those in our care,” Adams said in a statement. He said Molina had displayed “exceptional leadership … to reverse decades of mismanagement and