New York City’s jails could soon see empty cells under the leadership of newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who won the 2025 mayoral election. The 33-year-old Democratic Socialist, sworn in after securing the Democratic nomination on June 25, 2025, and triumphing in the general election, is moving forward with a bold plan to overhaul the city’s criminal justice system. As a former New York State Assembly member, Mamdani has sparked heated debate with his vision to close Rikers Island and release inmates he believes are unjustly incarcerated for non-violent crimes.
Mamdani’s agenda centers on decarceration, aiming to reduce the prison population through sweeping reforms drastically. He plans to eliminate cash bail, legalize marijuana, decriminalize simple drug possession, enact elder parole, restrict solitary confinement, and end mandatory minimum sentences.
“Oftentimes, we’ve even found as legislators, when we go into these courts, the term violent crime is even used when people are stealing packages,”
Mamdani said in a recent speech.
“Violent crime is even used when people are accused of burglary and there happens to be a housing unit in that same dwelling. So violence is an artificial construction.”
He went further, targeting the practices of district attorneys.
“We have to be very clear that what is happening here with these district attorneys, that is violence,”
He declared.
“That is violence at the highest degree.”
Mamdani argues that the justice system’s harsh approach causes more harm than many of the offenses it punishes, driving his push to reclassify non-violent crimes and reduce incarceration.
To shift away from traditional policing, Mamdani is creating a Department of Community Safety, which will prioritize violence interrupter programs and mental health teams for 911 calls. His pledge to shut down Rikers Island aligns with groups like the No New Jails coalition, focusing on community-based solutions over new jail construction. Reflecting on his goals in a 2020 X post, he wrote,
“We must end mass incarceration and redirect the over $3 billion we spend annually locking people up for frivolous charges towards housing, jobs, and education.”
He also emphasized systemic change, stating on January 23, 2020,
“We must go beyond mild bail reforms to dismantle New York’s brutal system of mass incarceration.”
Mamdani’s background fuels his mission. As a former housing counselor in Queens, he fought evictions for low-income families, shaping his commitment to tackling systemic inequities. Elected to the Assembly in 2020, he championed progressive policies, including ending police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. His administration’s 17-page public safety plan includes forming a sentencing reform commission to cut incarceration rates to 1950s levels within a decade.
A tweet from X.
Public response remains divided. Supporters, particularly within the Democratic Socialists of America, hail Mamdani’s vision as a path to equity, addressing the disproportionate impact of incarceration on marginalized communities. However, critics warn that releasing inmates could threaten public safety.
A recent poll showed that only 37% of New Yorkers support eliminating cash bail, down from 55% earlier this year. This highlights the uphill battle that Mamdani faces in implementing his reforms.
