The deadline to close Rikers Island and open borough-based jails is coming up in less than five years, but with officials pointing to a rise in jail population, Mayor Eric Adams and his administration are casting doubt that this plan will happen in time.

This all comes as lawmakers and advocates rallied last week, renewing calls for the timely closure of the jail complex.

Stanley Richards, who is the deputy CEO at The Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization that provides essential support to the formerly incarcerated, joined Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” Tuesday night to talk about the future of the troubled jail complex.

Richards was previously the deputy commissioner of programs and operations at the Department of Correction.

“I think we need to have someone like a czar or deputy mayor, whose sole responsibility is to move the process along to get us closed, get Rikers closed by 2027,” Richards said. “Someone who every day wakes up and goes to sleep and thinks about the procurement process, think about moving the different departments along.”