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Rikers Population vs. Capacity

Charts in this post: Rikers Population Better Billion Corridors School Funding DOT Lane Progress
data.nycuriosity.com › Mamdani's First 100 Days › Rikers Population
Criminal Justice April 2026

Rikers Population vs. Borough Jail Capacity

The average daily Rikers population has climbed to 7,067 as of March 2025, more than twice the 3,300-bed planned capacity of the four new borough jails. Until the population drops or capacity is expanded, closing Rikers Island is as much an arithmetic problem as a political one.

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Rikers holds more than twice the people the four new borough jails are built to house

Average daily population on Rikers Island against the 3,300-bed planned capacity of the borough-based jails, 2019–2025. The population has risen every year since the 2020 releases.

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 7,500 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 COVID-19 releases 5,398 3,909 4,872 5,504 5,927 6,307 Avg. daily population 7,067 Borough jail capacity 3,300
Source: The City, NYC Comptroller, Data Collaborative for Justice Note: 2019–2023 figures are trend estimates. Capacity is the widely cited 3,300-bed plan; some sources cite 4,160.

Average daily population (2024–2025): 6,307 (May 2024) and 7,067 (March 2025) from The City. 2019–2023 figures are approximate estimates based on trend reporting from the NYC Comptroller and Data Collaborative for Justice.

Borough jail capacity (3,300 beds): Widely cited figure for the four planned borough jails (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens). Some sources reference an updated figure of 4,160. The Manhattan Institute's "Is 3,300 Enough?" uses 3,300 as the planned total.