Category: Politics
New York City Council members heard testimony Tuesday on a package of proposals to reduce the number of young people held in secure detention and improve conditions at two facilities where overcrowding and youth-on-youth assaults have intensified.
City data presented to the Council’s Committee on Children and Youth showed an average of 385 young people in secure detention in July-126 above the combined official capacity of 259 at Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx and Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn. The gap means the average population was nearly 49% above the facilities’ stated capacity.
The hearing, chaired by Councilmember Althea Stevens, took place as the state revoked a special waiver that had allowed the city to exceed that capacity for years. Under the waiver, young people slept in classrooms and shared spaces, sometimes in shallow plastic tubs fitted with thin mattresses.
Assaults rise as the facilities strain
Youth-on-youth assaults and altercations rose to 185 from April through June, up from 128 during the same three months in 2025.
Stevens described the situation as a systemic failure to keep young people out of detention and to care properly for those who are held there. “These are young people, and it’s our job to keep them safe,” she said.
She welcomed the administration’s plan to reduce reliance on secure detention, but said she had not yet received the deadlines and funding figures needed to assess how quickly the changes would take effect. “The conditions haven’t changed. They are just as bad as they’ve always been. It’s still severely overcrowded,” Stevens said.
The councilmember also recounted a recent visit to Horizon, where she said young people knocked on doors pleading for water or access to a bathroom. Her account underscored concerns about basic needs at the centers, alongside the broader debate over population and violence.
Data released by the Public Advocate alongside the hearing also flagged overcrowding and inadequate education in the facilities.
Bills target alternatives and case reviews
The legislation under discussion seeks to strengthen options outside secure detention and identify young people who may not need to remain there.
A bill sponsored by Stevens would require the city to create a guide to alternatives to incarceration for young people and share it with judges, prosecutors, attorneys and advocates.
A measure sponsored by Councilmember Lincoln Restler would require the Administration for Children’s Services, which operates the centers, to review every young person in secure detention and recommend candidates for early release.
Other measures would mandate annual staff training on sexual exploitation and provide funding to implement the state’s Raise the Age law, which governs how 16- and 17-year-olds are treated in the justice system.
Administration outlines changes
In September, the Mamdani administration unveiled plans to reduce reliance on secure detention. Jones Gaston announced a series of measures, including increased funding for alternatives to incarceration for 14- to 20-year-olds and expanded access to family counseling.
The plan also calls for intensive community monitoring for young people awaiting court cases at home, less restrictive settings for teens with good behavior, and coordination with the state to speed up court cases and transfers to state prisons.
ACS said it is “committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for youth and staff in our secure detention centers.” The agency pointed to renovations, increased security, staff onboarding and updated training, as well as education and workforce programs.
The agency also said bathrooms had been added at both facilities and that staff regularly deliver water to areas without fountains. ACS said it agrees that only young people who need secure detention should remain there.
Family testimony sharpens the stakes
Laqasia Tatum, whose son was 16 when he was attacked by other teens at Horizon, is calling for sweeping changes and accountability for ACS employees. Her account drew attention to the consequences of violence for young people and families beyond the incident counts.
Tatum said her son needed 46 stitches across both hands and staples in his back after the attack. On a Mother’s Day phone call, she was asked to consent to sedating him for treatment.
Her testimony added a personal dimension to the policy debate: a rise in reported assaults is not only a measure of institutional conditions, but also a series of injuries and decisions that families must confront.