By Josephine Stratman and Cayla Bamberger
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Rikers Island for the most part makes headlines for violence and disorder, so much so that New York City has moved to close the notorious jail complex.
But on Tuesday, there was a palpable shift in the air as dozens of incarcerated students crossed the graduation stage to receive their diploma from the public high school on Rikers, East River Academy — with a surprise commencement address by Mayor Mamdani.
“If today is proof of anything, it is that you have the power to move your life forward, even when everything feels like it is pulling you backwards,” Mamdani told the graduates. “And no matter what is waiting for you on the other side of your degree, be it college or be it a career, there will always be a place for you in New York City.”
“Today was not inevitable. You accomplished this, you got yourself, you will always have this for the rest of your lives. And I am so proud of everything that you have done to get to this point.”
In total, 57 students ages 18 and older graduated from East River Academy this school year, earning high school degrees or GEDs. About 40 of them were in attendance at the Robert N. Davoren Complex chapel, adorned with metallic stars and balloons spelling out “GRAD” and “2026.” Like any other graduation ceremony, parents cheered and some whistled as their students’ names were called.
Addressing the graduates, Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said he plans to launch a peer mentorship program for students on Rikers, in which a cohort of incarcerated men can develop their leadership skills.
“When I look around at all of you, I am in awe of how you responded,” Samuels said. “You took an educational opportunity that was available to you and made the most of it along the way.”
Valedictorian Andrew Pashinin, 20, is an aspiring photographer. He said his diploma will enable him to enroll in college.
“Today means a lot to me,” he said. “It means the ability to step forward, make new opportunities, go to college, and also just inspire my peers. And set a better tone for the environment here in jail, and to really just make myself be able to become a better person.”
His mom, Heidy De Castro , appreciated Mamdani’s message to Pashinin: To not define himself as his mistakes.
“Sixteen months here have been difficult for us,” De Castro said. “Today seems like a little graduation [from] all that suffering. Even though he’s still here, his mind is different.”
Mamdani’s commencement address follows at least two Rikers graduation speeches by former Mayor Eric Adams , who often spoke of his own experience of being arrested as a teen, before becoming a police officer, state lawmaker, borough president, and then mayor of New York City .
While Mamdani made no mention of closing Rikers at the celebratory event, the current mayor has said it would be “practically impossible” to close the troubled jail complex by next year as required by law, blaming Adams for the setback.
In the meantime, he’s appointed a “Close Rikers Czar,” tasked with reducing the jail population and supervising the construction of borough-based jails that are “smaller, safer and more humane.” The mayor also broke the Ramadan fast with incarcerated Muslim men on Rikers in March.
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