Amid continued scrutiny of problems at Rikers Island and other New York City jails, Mayor Bill de Blasio said bluntly that the situation in the city’s correction department is very bad.

Speaking to reporters following remarks at the United Nations Tuesday, de Blasio reiterated that his administration inherited problems in the nation’s second-largest jail system that he’s working “to fix.”

He pointed to his naming of a reform-minded corrections commissioner, the allotment of $32.5 million in the budget and a new approach to guard training and supervision.

De Blasio was responding to comments made Monday by a federal prosecutor, who warned he may take legal action to force meaningful reforms. Last month, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara issued a scathing review of conditions for adolescent Rikers inmates.

(AP)