Prior to being purchased by new york city in 1884, rikers island was owned by a prominent dutch family, the rikers (formerly rycken). Detainees regularly obtain drugs and weapons, violence is rampant, and deaths in custody are โ€ฆ ยท rikers island prison, colloquially called rikers, is the main prison compound of new york city, located on rikers island between the burroughs of queens and the bronx. The familyโ€™s most well-known descendant, richard riker, โ€ฆ ยท now increased to a size of more than 400 acres (162 hectares), rikers island has been since 1935 the site of a city penitentiary that was relocated from welfare (now roosevelt) island. Rikers island is a 413-acre (167. 14-hectare) [2][3] prison island in the east river in the bronx, new york, united states, [4] that contains new york city s largest jail. The island is located โ€ฆ ยท a federal judge on tuesday officially seized control of rikers island from new york city, ordering the appointment of an independent manager to oversee the notorious jail complex that has โ€ฆ ยท rikersโ€™ visitors are subjected to invasive searches by aggressive correction officers for smuggled contraband, and inmates are ordered to cease and desist from groping. In us parlance, rikers island is technically a jail rather than a prison, since it only houses inmates on remand, serving short sentences, or awaiting transfer to another facility. Rikers island has had a reputation for violence, physical and mental abuse and neglect of its inmates, and has attracted press and judicial scrutiny that has resulted in numerous rulings against the new โ€ฆ ยท on march 19, the second iteration of the independent rikers commission chaired by former chief judge jonathan lippman released its long-awaited report on how to best close rikers. ยท rikers has been a mismanaged, dangerous, and inhumane detention center for years now.