New York City has agreed to shell out more than $53 million to suspects held in harsh conditions — including being confined to tight spaces and deprived of sunlight — at jails on Rikers Island and in Manhattan ahead of their trials.

The proposed agreement, which will have to be signed off on by a federal judge to be finalized, would settle a class action lawsuit that covers more than 4,000 people held in city lockups from March 2018 to June 2022. 

Under the terms, the city will agree to pay $400 for each day the detainees were housed at “covered facilities,” including two facilities on Rikers and a housing area in the Manhattan Detention Complex, a downtown jail commonly referred to as the tombs. 

Inmates who were determined to have a serious mental illness or who were under the age of 22 while detained in the conditions will be awarded an additional $50 per day, according to the proposed settlement filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court.

“People confined in the Covered Facilities were denied sufficient access to programming, recreation, a dayroom, natural light, freedom of movement, and psychological monitoring, among other deprivations,” the proposed settlement states. 

“At times, the conditions approached those experienced in solitary confinement,” it adds. 

Plaintiff attorney Eric Hecker said the settlement would be a step forward, but does not undo the harm caused. 

“No human being should be subjected to such highly isolated confinement, and certainly not without a hearing to challenge that placement,” Hecker said in a statement after the proposed deal was filed.

“The compensation from the settlement cannot undo the substantial psychological harm these conditions have caused, but we hope it will provide some relief to the class,” he added. 

A spokesperson for the City Law Department, Nicholas Paolucci, said the agreement was in the best interest of everyone involved in the suit. 

“The safety of all individuals on Rikers is among the City’s highest priorities. While the housing assignments at issue reflected these safety concerns, the practices that led to this litigation have been modified. This settlement is in the best interests of all parties,” Paolucci said.