Advocates called for a federal takeover of Rikers Island just moments before a long-awaited court hearing on the subject.

Inside the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, Judge Laura Taylor Swain will determine whether the city should be held in contempt and whether, as a result, a federal receiver should be appointed to oversee the operation of the city’s troubled jail complex.

On Tuesday, she set a hearing date for oral arguments in September. She also indicated she would determine whether the city was in contempt first and then consider what remedy was needed to turn things around on Rikers.

It’s unclear whether that would be an appointment for a receiver and how much power that person would have.

“And if somebody believes they can do Rikers better, trust me, I have so many other items I can do in this city,” Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday.

Adams has not supported a federal takeover and continues to say federal prisons are not a model.

“Many of you have acknowledged what happening with the federal prison system,” the mayor said. “It’s definitely not a model of what prisons should look like.”

But if a receiver were appointed for Rikers, the federal agency in charge of federal prisons would not take over. An independent person is typically selected.

“I will respect the decision the court makes,” he said. “We believe we can continue to move Rikers in the right direction.”

It will be months before a decision is made. At the end of the hearing, the judge urged the Department of Correction to find a way, in the interim, to try to make the jails safer.

“The resolution of this motion will chart the path forward for Rikers Island jails, which for too long have been plagued by violence and chaos,” concluded the judge.