1. Do you think that maybe the NYPD may have its biases? While it is true that murders are up in New York City, overall crime is down. And a new report found that only 1 person from rikers island was arrested for murder and another 7 for gun charges. The rikers island prisoners have a negligible effect on citywide murders and aren't driving overall crime up in the city. Now am I saying that all the prisoners who were released should have been released and that the release process was perfect? Of course not. There are some people who should not have been released. But on a general level, most people who have minor offenses, or are particularly vulnerable to covid 19 should be released.
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/p0402b/nypd-citywide-crime-statistics-march-2020
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/p0504a/nypd-citywide-crime-statistics-april-2020
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/p0618a/nypd-citywide-crime-statistics-may-2020
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/pr0706/nypd-citywide-crime-statistics-june-2020
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/public-safety/2020/07/08/thirteen-percent-of-early-rikers-releases-re-arrested-
https://gothamist.com/news/data-contradicts-nypds-claim-bail-reform-and-covid-releases-drove-shooting-spike
2. Given all that, even if you were correct, a single city does not disprove data.
3. Anecdotes do not disprove data.