Mayor Adams visits Rikers Island jail inmates, correction officers on Thanksgiving

NEW YORK (PIX11) --- Mayor Eric Adams joined correction officers and detainees at the Rikers Island jail facility on Thanksgiving.

"We have a mother here with a child, a newborn," he said. "I wanted to visit her because no matter what an individual does in their lives, we need to treat people in a humane way and I wanted to stop in and say happy Thanksgiving to everyone here and wish them the best as the new holiday season."

She wasn't the only detainee he wanted to speak with.

"I wanted to visit the inmates and engage in conversation and tell them that where they are is not who they are," Adams said. "It's about re-engaging themselves, learning from whatever placed them here in the first place and coming out with a desire not to return."

Adams also wanted to thank correction officers.

"I think they just are under-appreciated, a very difficult job dealing with some of the most violent offenders in this city, but they do it every day," he said.

He wasn't the only city leader making holiday visits in the community on Thanksgiving. NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez gave out food at a school.