Rikers Island inmate dies after apparent medical incident; fifth prison death this year

An inmate held at Rikers Island is the fifth person to die in a city jail this year. He died Tuesday morning at a Queens hospital after an apparent medical incident.

The Department of Correction said the individual, whose identity is being withheld pending family notification, was transported from the prison complex's North Infirmary Command to Mount Sinai Queens Hospital in Astoria at 5:22 a.m. because he was suffering from medical distress. He could not be saved and was pronounced dead at 6:19 a.m.

The death is currently being investigated by the Department of Corrections and outside agencies, including the federal Rikers Board of Corrections, have been notified.

This is the fifth death this year among inmates at the troubled city jail and the thirty-third since Eric Adams became mayor in 2022.

The number of deaths among the city's incarcerated inmates this year has prompted the federal government to consider more seriously than ever before taking control of its prisons away from the city. Last year, the Justice Department asked a judge to appoint a federal administrator to oversee the operation of the prisons.

Judge Laura T. Swain has so far refused to appoint a receiver, even though federal supervisor Steve Martin says the prisons “remain dangerous and unsafe and are characterized by an ever-present, imminent risk of harm to both inmates and staff.”