Council hearing today on NYC juvenile jails as detention population tops capacity and assaults rise

The City Council takes up conditions inside New York City's juvenile jails on Tuesday as the number of young people in detention runs well past capacity and violence inside rises. The Committee on Children and Youth, chaired by Council Member Althea Stevens, holds an oversight hearing at 1 p.m. at 250 Broadway, 8th floor, Hearing Room 1, according to Stevens' office.

The numbers

• The city's two secure detention centers, Horizon in the Bronx and Crossroads in Brooklyn, are meant to hold a combined 259 young people, but held an average of 385 in July, Gothamist reported, citing the latest city data.
• There were 185 youth-on-youth assaults and altercations from April to June, up from 128 in the same period last year.

State officials recently revoked a waiver that for years let the city exceed official capacity, a practice that had young people sleeping in classrooms and common areas, Gothamist reported. Stevens told the outlet that during a recent visit to Horizon, many young people were knocking on their doors asking for water or to use the bathroom. "It's still severely overcrowded," she said.

Gothamist also spoke with a mother whose 16-year-old son was attacked by other teens at Horizon this spring and needed about 46 stitches, she said.

What's on the agenda

Along with the oversight hearing, the committee will hear four measures, according to the meeting agenda and Stevens' office:

• Int. 447 (Stevens): a guide to alternatives to incarceration and detention for young people, to be shared with judges, prosecutors, lawyers and advocates;
• Int. 629 (Lincoln Restler): teams to review the case of every young person in secure detention and recommend candidates for early release;
• Int. 977 (Farah Louis): training to identify and support sexually exploited youth;
• Res. 274 (Stevens): a call on Albany to make New York City eligible for state Raise the Age funding.

Deputy Speaker Nantasha Williams, who toured Horizon with Stevens, said in the release that serious concerns about the facilities "have gone unresolved" for too long.

The city's response

In September, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration announced a plan to fund more alternatives to incarceration for 14- to 20-year-olds facing charges, expand family counseling, start an intensive community monitoring program for young people awaiting trial at home, and keep teens with good behavior in less restrictive settings, Gothamist reported. Stevens said she still wants deadlines and funding figures.

The Administration for Children's Services, which runs both centers, said it is renovating facilities, improving security, hiring staff, updating training and expanding education and job programs. A spokesperson said ACS agrees only young people who need secure detention should be there, has added bathrooms at Crossroads and Horizon, and gives water regularly to youth held in areas without fountains.