The Mamdani administration is looking to hire a “borough-based jails czar,” according to a job listing posted by the mayor’s office on Friday.
The high-ranking role comes with a $180,000 to $230,000 salary, the listing states, and “will serve as a trusted advisor to the mayor, first deputy mayor, and the administration’s senior leadership on all matters related to the closing of Rikers.”
The city is legally mandated to close the Rikers Island jail complex, which has long been troubled by reports of subpar conditions and violence, by August 2027. Last year, 15 people died at Rikers or while in medical care shortly after being released from custody.
The search for a jails czar represents Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s latest step to address the situation at Rikers since taking office in January. That month, he signed an emergency executive order directing jail officials to end solitary confinement on Rikers and hired criminal justice reformer Stanley Richards to lead the city’s Department of Correction.
Plans to shutter the troubled jail complex and replace it with four borough-based jails stalled under the previous Adams administration. A progress report released by the city in January estimated that the Brooklyn jail — the furthest along of the new facilities — wouldn’t be complete until 2029. The jails czar would be tasked with getting that plan back on track by ensuring that “all projects and initiatives associated with the closing of Rikers and the building of borough-based jails are on track for timely completion,” according to the job posting.
Mamdani’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.