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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 often entails five to six hours on the island because visitors pass through multiple waiting rooms and duplicate screenings.
Commissioner Lynelle McGinley Liddy told the committee that DOC has expanded child‑focused programs, including off‑island visits at the Children's Museum of Manhattan and CMOM learning hubs inside several facilities, and that the department has longstanding partnerships with community organizations to support family visits. "We are committed to continuing to build on these programs and to improving the visit experience overall," she said in testimony.
On operations, DOC said it is creating a new, stand‑alone visits operation under an executive director who is pending OMB approval and will be supported by an estimated 12 staffers. The department described using an application called Visitor Express to track visits from registration to completion by scanning barcoded ID cards and said its internal analysis produces an average wait time of about 4.5 hours measured from registration to the end of a visit. The agency acknowledged it does not currently track time visitors spend waiting outside before registration and agreed to provide additional data on those pre‑registration waits.
Council members pressed DOC on duplicative security screenings at the Central Visits Building and again at individual jails. DOC officials said central screening exists to concentrate expensive equipment and to reduce the need to deploy multiple machines across older buildings, but they acknowledged the second, facility‑level screening adds time and said the review will assess whether adjustments can safely reduce delays.
On technology and funding, DOC said procurement for an online scheduling and video‑visits platform is underway but that implementation is likely to require roughly $2 million and a dedicated scheduling team; the department indicated funding is currently self‑funded and rollout may occur in the next fiscal year unless additional resources are identified.
The hearing closed with public testimony from nonprofit partners, defense attorneys and family members. Speakers praised child‑friendly programs like the CMOM visits while urging faster fixes for staffing, clearer signage, more seating, transparent communications during lockdowns and clearer policies and training on dress code and coverups. The council requested follow‑up data on outside wait times, the executive director’s onboarding timeline, and a status update on the grievance directive and PREA audit.
