Aramis Furse has become the 14th person to die in or immediately after NYC Department of Corrections (DOC) custody after he was found “unwell” in his Rikers Island cell. The 32-year-old Black man died on December 7 shortly after paramedics transported him to Mount Sinai Queens Hospital.
“The Department is mourning the tragic death of an individual in our custody,” said DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family. The safety of everyone in our care is always our foremost concern, and we will fully investigate this tragedy.”
In a statement, public defense organizations the Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services, which represented Furse, called for considering every alternative to incarcerating people in the city’s main jails as they continue deteriorating.
“Furse’s family, loved ones, and counsel deserve immediate access to all information surrounding his death,” the public defenders wrote. “Full transparency and accountability are essential, particularly given DOC’s repeated failure to keep families and attorneys informed or provide the answers they urgently need.”
The two organizations also pointed to recent recommendations made last month by the Board of Corrections (BOC), the independent watchdog overseeing city jails. They stem from a report examining five of the previous deaths this year and found instances involving unsecured cell doors, discoveries of drug paraphernalia, and staff failing to notify medical staff after observing the person in custody “unwell” before their death.
The BOC suggests the DOC “distribute memoranda and conduct updated trainings on providing prompt medical aid to an individual who is sick, impaired, unconscious, or injured” with a focus on obtaining medical assistance. Other recommendations include assigning more staff to the video monitoring unit and preventing cell window obstructions, which often imply something wrong.
As the year closes, the city draws closer to a federally appointed receivership over the jail system and the legal deadline to close Rikers Island by 2027. Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams became the frequent sin-eater for the current crisis as his pro-enforcement approach and budget cuts to reentry programming drew criticism, in addition to existing issues with COVID-19–related delays and reforms mandated by a settlement over detainee conditions.
His successor, Zohran Mamdani, will face his first deadline immediately when he assumes office in January — the local Renewable Rikers law mandates that the mayor transfer dormant facilities on Rikers Island from the DOC to the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) every half-year, ensuring the building’s decommission and repurposing the land for environmental causes.
Michael Higgins Jr., a land planner for the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance and coordinator of the Renewable Rikers coalition, said Mamdani can send a “clear message” that the city is on the same page for transferring the land between agencies.
“He can, pretty soon after entering office, commit the first land transfer in about over four years,” said Higgins. “That’s one thing that he can do … within his first 100 days. He can also show his support for actually giving city agencies the authority to actually start thinking about a master plan for what’s going to be happening on the island.”
Notably, the Anna M. Kross Center, once the city’s largest jail, closed back in 2023 but remains under DOC charge. The city also closed the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, but the Adams administration refused to turn the jail over to DCAS via Renewable Rikers in 2022. The facility later reopened, and was where Furse and Edwin Ramos — who died last month just hours before release — were held on Rikers Island.
“Prayers and condolences to yet another family mourning the loss of their loved one on Rikers Island,” said Freedom Agenda co-director Darren Mack. “Forty-seven deaths in DOC custody since Mayor Adams took office. This is the outcome of an administration that has chosen incarceration as a solution to every social problem, such as mental health, homelessness, and more, in our city. That is the legacy of Eric Adams.”
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