For years, the City Council and the mayor have been fighting over restricting solitary confinement on Rikers Island.

The council banned the practice in 2024, and the mayor used executive orders to try to get around implementing the law. While state courts have sided with the council, a federal judge is now stepping in.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who approved the appointment of an independent manager to take over much of Rikers earlier this year, quietly issued a temporary restraining order last week prohibiting the council’s solitary ban from taking effect, arguing the law’s provisions would put detainees at risk.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams sponsored the legislation.

“One, it’s a temporary restraining order, so it’s temporary in nature and means temporary, so we’re trying to see what else we can do in court,” Williams said.

It’s a victory for the Adams administration, but one that may be short-lived as Rikers faces other serious problems.

On Tuesday, the DOC requested its oversight body, the Board of Correction, allow them to increase capacity in certain dorms on Rikers to address a skyrocketing population.

The board, which had previously allowed the practice, rejected it.

“The department has no plan. The state has no plan for resolving this issue,” Board of Correction member Dr. Robert Cohen said. “Rikers Island cannot just expand and expand and expand.”

Rikers population has grown to 7,665 detainees, far more than were there just a few years ago.

In part, the department blames the state prison system, which has failed to transfer many detainees to upstate prisons to serve out their sentences, following a wildcat strike by state correction officers earlier this year.

Some 1,000 detainees are ready to go upstate, correction officials say. Another 180 are awaiting placement in a state psychiatric facility. All of this leading to overcrowding on Rikers.

“It is unfortunate that the Board fails to grasp the severity of the crisis faced by our jails due to the issues impacting the State system. This Department has a duty to make decisions in the best interest of the safety of everyone living and working in our facilities and we will do so accordingly,” a DOC spokesperson said following the board’s vote.

A spokesman for the state prison system says they are working to resume intake of detainees following the strike and termination of 2,000 officers who refused to return to work.

“DOCCS appreciates the patience and understanding of everyone as we recover, recruit, and rebuild,” he said.