Rikers Island inmate grabs NYC council member’s butt during facility tour: sources
A locked-up sex offender groped New York City Councilwoman Sandy Nurse during a Tuesday morning tour of Rikers Island, The Post has learned.
Inmate Gregorio Garcia slapped Nurse’s butt twice “without provocation or communication” at around 10:50 a.m., according to police sources.
Correction officers quickly grabbed Garcia and restrained him, sources said — even as the 5-foot tall, 200-pound inmate tried to escape their grasp.
He kept struggling as they escorted him away and threw him back in his cell, sources said.
“This is a scary and dangerous situation that could have been far worse,” one source said.
Nurse is a Democrat who represents the city’s 37th council district, which includes the central Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick, Brownsville, Cypress Hills, Cityline and East New York.
She also serves as the chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice, and sponsored legislation making it illegal to pepper spray inmates.
One source was quick to point out that the incident shows why that’s a bad idea.
“This alarming and unprovoked attack on a New York City council member by a sexual predator demonstrates exactly why correction staff, civilians, and non-violent inmates in the city’s jails need proper safety measures in place to keep them safe — while also holding these predators accountable for their crimes,” the source said.
“The City Council needs to stop proposing reckless legislation that would restrict staff from using pepper spray, and from separating violent offenders from the general population before something tragic happens.”
Neither Nurse, her office nor the city’s Department of Correction immediately responded to requests for comment.
Garcia has been jailed on a first-degree sexual abuse charge stemming from a November 2023 arrest, according to the city’s jail and court records.
He’s also been accused of assault and forcible touching — and he’s pleaded not guilty to each charge.
Garcia is due to appear Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court
Craig McCarthy and Haley Brown contributed to this report.
