Sending a holiday package to someone at Rikers? It might never arrive.

With the holidays fast approaching, families across New York are rushing to get packages to loved ones on Rikers Island — gifts of new winter clothes, books and art supplies.

But public defenders say a troubling number of even the most benign deliveries will get caught up in the jail's mail system and never arrive.

Packages are routinely delayed for months, rejected for what advocates describe as arbitrary reasons, or lost entirely. They say that’s true even when the senders follow rules outlined on the Department of Correction website, leaving people inside without essentials during the coldest months of the year — and families out of the money they’ve spent on items that never make it.

“With the holidays coming up, this is always a concern,” said Rebecca Kinsella, the social work dire