Late last month, city Correction Department officials asked the jail oversight board to expand bed capacity in certain Rikers Island dorms from 50 to 60 beds.
The so-called variance request — initially approved in February — was needed to deal with overcrowding as the jail population swelled to 7,645, Correction Department Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie wrote on June 28 to the Board of Correction, which sets rules for city jails.
The overcrowding is due in part to a logjam caused by a state prison strike by correction officers earlier this year,…