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City Council hearing presses DOC on long Rikers visit waits, pledges new visits unit and scheduling system
Summary
At a joint Criminal Justice and Oversight hearing, DOC said it is creating a dedicated visits executive director and a roughly 12-person visits team and pursuing an online scheduling system after an OID report found multi‑hour waits, inconsistent policies, and poor communications; advocates and defense attorneys urged faster, concrete fixes.
The New York City Council convened a joint hearing of the Criminal Justice and Oversight and Investigations committees on Dec. 4 to examine visitation at Rikers Island after a report from the council's Oversight and Investigations Division found 'extremely long waits and poor communication.' Council members pressed the Department of Correction to produce specific deadlines and fix on‑island procedures that frequently turn an hour‑long visit into an entire workday.
"For incarcerated New Yorkers, receiving visitors strengthens family ties, improves mental health, and facilitates successful reentry," said the committee co‑chair (identified in the transcript as Chair Nurse), summarizing the report’s findings about signage and inconsistent enforcement. Council member Gail Brewer said investigators found that a one‑hour visit…
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