RIKERS ISLAND CATS & THE CRY FOR HELP
Elizabeth Forel
RIKERS ISLAND CATS & THE CRY FOR HELPThe anonymous note that caused a humane shift + the people who made it happen
The Rikers Island Cats Logo Background - the cats at RikersThe year 2000 had historical significance as the dawn of a new century and the third millennium in the Gregorian calendar. There was fear that computers would crash when the dates changed from “99” to “00” – called the Y2K Millennium bug. But nothing happened, and life continued the same as always. Sometime during that year, several animal advocates received an anonymous note about the horrific dangers that stray cats on Rikers Island were facing – the note said they were being thrown on razor wire. Cats! I had to do something. Rikers Island is NYC’s main jail complex, located on a 413-acre island in the East River – partly in the Bronx and partly in Queens. It is managed by the Department of Corrections (DoC). Unknown to the public, Rikers had a population of hundreds of feral cats. We later learned that the cats were dumped there mostly by staff. Visitors were carefully screened. Current estimates of the total workforce are around 10,330, which has been steadily decreasing. It must have seemed like a good place to dump unwanted cats and kittens. And the population continued to explode. More animal advocate than rescuer, I took it upon myself to find out more about this issue, to get media coverage, and to expose the situation. This led to a meeting with the head of PR at the DoC, who warned me that she would not work with me if this appeared in the media. This is typical for City agencies. But I kept on exposing this issue on the internet – emailing everyone I knew. Finally, someone reached out to me and said she knew Elinor Guggenheimer, a very influential New Yorker who had been the Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) during Mayor Abe Beam’s administration. She was very interested in this crisis and wanted to help. It was the boost we needed. Guggenheimer was well-connected and arranged a meeting at Rikers with the new DoC Commissioner, William Fraser. On the day planned for our visit, we convened at her apartment on Park Avenue - representatives from Rikers, the DoC, and animal activists/rescuers, including Bryan Kortis and Mike Phillips, who were both with Neighborhood Cats at the time, Debby Tanzer, and me. This is Elinor Guggenheimer and William Fraser below. Without their interest, compassion, and positive attitude, the Rikers Island Cat Rescue would not have happened.
Off to Rikers to fight for the catsWe boarded the Rikers Island bus and set off on our adventure. We learned that our route was the only way into the jail via the Rikers Island Bridge (officially named the Francis R. Buono Bridge). We also learned that Rikers was a “jail” – not a “prison” – meaning that it primarily holds people awaiting trial or serving very short sentences. Rikers management was very pleased to have us visit and planned to serve us lunch. All the activists were vegan, and we did not want to call attention to this, so we agreed to eat salad and bread. But then we thought that would be rude, so I let them know we only ate vegan food, but would be fine eating salad. We were pleasantly surprised at the delicious vegan spread they prepared for us. They told us they were happy to have this challenge since it was not an everyday occurrence. One thing led to another, and Commissioner Fraser agreed to let the spay/neuter project begin. With Neighborhood cats doing the TNR and the ASPCA providing their mobile spay/neuter vans, the project was underway. Fraser had only recently been appointed commissioner in November 2000, probably shortly before we met with him. He succeeded Bernard Kerik, who became NYPD commissioner. This was fortuitous since Keric was known to dislike the “smelly” cats at Rikers.
Gloria Murli, a retired DoC Corrections Officer at Rikers, with one of the cats My job was doneI felt greatly relieved that something positive was planned and eased out of the project since TNR was not my forte. I eventually took on the carriage horse ban issue in 2006, only to remove myself in 2019-20 when it began to seem futile. However, others continue to work on this very challenging and obstinate issue - we just need to keep the faith. About that time, I became aware of a huge colony of cats in the South Bronx – all spayed, neutered, and healthy, well taken care of. It had been twenty years since I was involved with the Rikers cats, and I wondered what had happened with the TNR project. I soon learned that, for various reasons, it was not as successful as hoped for - mostly having to do with a change in administrations and wavering support for the cat project. There were still about 300 cats on the island. Since the only way to reach the island is by bridge, and cats don’t swim, I wondered how the island ended up with so many. The answer is probably not visitors since they would be screened thoroughly, but most likely employees and contractors who could easily drop off an unwanted cat, some pregnant. What Now?Rikers has been in the news for years, with talk of closing it down. What would happen to the cats? Were plans being made for them since the jail is currently slated for closure by 2027, replaced by borough-based facilities? I started researching and came up with this wonderful video about the cats with Gloria Murli. Gloria was a corrections officer at Rikers and retired about 20 years ago. She was part of the meeting in 2000 and currently spends a lot of time at the rescue.  While things move slowly, many positive changes have been made. The rescue is officially recognized as the Rikers Island Cat Rescue, a 501 (c) (3). Two years after the initial start, the NY Times covered the story - NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: RIKERS ISLAND; Wild at Heart, Furry of Face, and Now, Under Control This is the same article on the NY Times Machine - one should open. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/2002/09/01/643394.html?pageNumber=120 NY Post - KITTY CRACKDOWN ON RIKERS - also 2002 More recently, The City published an update in 2025. Meet the Cats Who Roam Rikers Island and the retired Corrections officer who cares for them. To me, this was always a fascinating story – about the cats living in a correctional institution and the employees (and retirees) who continue to give so much of themselves to help these cats. With the involvement of Gloria Murli and Barry Hyman, along with Mike Phillips, who cofounded the Urban Cat League and continues to work behind the scenes, I feel positive. It seems that when it comes to helping animals – especially cats and dogs, it is the public that makes things happen. Please donate to Rikers Island Cat Rescue to help build the sanctuary. The Rescue (RICR) does not receive direct, regular funding from the NYC government. It’s all volunteer-run.
© 2026 Elizabeth Forel
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