NYC jails monitor's tab for 8 years of oversight: $22.4 million

Graham Rayman, New York Daily News on Dec 11, 2024

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NEW YORK — New York City has paid the federal monitor in charge of tracking violence and use of force in the city’s jails more than $22.4 million through the end of this October, figures obtained by the New York Daily News show.

The total taxpayer bill for eight years of oversight is $22,496,096 starting in fiscal 2016 and extending through Oct. 31 — including $535,000 from July 1 to Oct. 31, the figures show. The bill for fiscal 2024, ended June 30, was $2.3 million, according to the figures.

The head of the team, correction consultant Steve Martin, has earned $3.07 million alone over the eight-year period, while Tillid LLC, the consulting firm led by deputy monitor Anna Friedberg, has been paid $9.8 million, according to the figures.

The monitoring team has compiled dozens of reports that have exposed problems in the management of the jails by the Correction Department.

“This figure is a reminder that the staggering cost of Rikers’ dysfunction and brutality is not just the more than $2 billion spent on (Correction Department) operations every year, but also the cost of multiple monitors, and millions more to settle lawsuits,” said Darren Mark, co-founder of Freedom Agenda, an advocacy group.

“All while the same communities that have been funneled into Rikers for decades stay waiting for the investments they need to thrive.”

Friedberg, the deputy monitor, did not reply to an email for comment. Under the contract with the city, the monitoring team is barred from public comment without prior approval.

The monitoring team was appointed in 2015 in federal court as part of a settlement in the Nunez class action lawsuit, which alleged widespread violence and uses of force by staff were a result of mismanagement by the city.

On Nov. 27, Manhattan Federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain held the city in contempt of multiple court orders and said she is “inclined” to appoint a receiver with broad powers to run the jail system.

A key difference between the monitor and a receiver is the monitor can only make recommendations while a receiver would have powers to set policy with approval from Swain.

A key hearing where the parties will lay out their proposals for a receiver is slated for Jan. 14.

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