Mayor Eric Adams is resisting a bid from the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan to take over Rikers Island, and have it administered by the federal government, insisting he’s the right guy to clean up New York City’s embattled jail system.

“I am the best person in this administration to finally turn around the Department of Corrections,” declared Hizzoner Tuesday at the NYPD’s headquarters.

“I have been on Rikers Island. Last year in November, I visited the young girl who was there with her baby. I attended graduations. I walked the facilities!”

Adams visited the Rose M. Singer Center where 300 women are detained on Thanksgiving and spent time talking to a young mother who had given birth six months earlier while incarcerated.

Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, declared Monday he will continue to push for a federal takeover of the jail due to the current lack of “substantial progress” tied to horrific conditions plaguing inmates and staff.

Photos published by The Post in 2021 showed overcrowded cells where inmates were forced to relieve themselves inside plastic bags and take turns sleeping on the fetid floors.

A year later the same conditions were apparent in a different center within the prison where inmates were again crowded into an overtake center for days on end with little supervision.

Although there’s been a federal-court ordered monitor at Rikers for nearly a decade, it’s limited in its ability to enforce investigation recommendations. 

Should Rikers fall under a federal court-appointed receiver, it would strip Adams and the city from decision making – including hiring and firing. 

Hizzoner argued the DOC is making significant progress, reforming the system to cut down on violence and inhumane conditions.

“I am looking at the numbers. The numbers are showing that we are moving this in the right direction.” 

“When I took office, unlike others, I did not view corrections from a distance. I was on Rikers Island probably more than any other mayor in the history of the city,” said Adams. 

During a particularly deadly 2022 there were 19 inmate deaths reported behind bars at Rikers.

So far in 2023 four people have died in custody, with one inmate dying from an overdose on July 4.

Adams’ predecessor, Bill de Blasio, famously avoided visiting the embattled island despite its deteriorating state including a rise in deaths among incarcerated individuals and massive staff walkouts over terrifying working conditions.

He was shamed into touring the facility in late 2021 after failing to set foot on the island for four years.

“Now you have a mayor that’s leading from the front and saying I’m going to be responsible for DOC and you’re seeing the results that we are doing and saying we are going to take it away from you, Eric,” claimed Adams.