Rikers Island (Wiki commons)
Oct. 11, 2019. By Shane O’Brien
The City Council, backed by the mayor, took action yesterday to make sure that Rikers Island will be shut permanently.
The council is expected to file an application with Dept. of City Planning to remap Rikers Island so that it can no longer be used as a prison after 2026. The council’s Land Use Committee passed a resolution yesterday authorizing the City Council to move forward with the application.
Mayor Bill de Blasio lauded the move and said that the change would make sure that his policy to shut the infamous island prison down would be iron-clad. The resolution is part of the mayor’s plan to shut down Rikers Island and replace it with four borough-based jails by 2026.
“We promised to close Riker’s Island, and we’re making good on that promise,” de Blasio said in a statement. “We’re making our commitment ironclad and ensuring no future administration can reverse all the progress we’ve made. Mass incarceration did not begin in New York City, but it will end here.”
Johnson also said that the decision was a step towards ending mass imprisonment in New York City.
“This process will require Rikers Island to close as a correctional facility by 2026, and shows our deep commitment to moving away from the failed policies of mass incarceration,” Johnson said.
The map change would be done through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) and the city will attempt to have Rikers Island designated as a public place on the city map. It would mean that any future development on the island would have to be solely for the benefit of the public.
The application will be co-filed with the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and Department of Correction.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and advocacy group No New Jails had recently raised concerns that the mayor’s plan to build four new jails included no guarantee that Rikers Island would be closed down.
Council Member Robert Holden slammed the council’s Land Use Committee for what he described as a “blatant overreach of power.”
Holden criticized the Committee for turning the ULURP process on its head. His office said that the City Council vote was normally the last stage of the ULURP process. In this instance, however, the City Council’s vote was the first step in the process, something that Holden’s office described as unprecedented.
Holden previously called for the creation of a commission to study the cost of rebuilding Rikers, before going ahead with the borough-based jail proposal. The cost of rebuilding Rikers Island could then be compared with the cost of the mayor’s plan, which has been estimated to be $11 billion.
Holden issued a statement criticizing his fellow Council Members in the wake of the Land Use committee’s decision.
“It is clear that my colleagues have made up their minds on Rikers Island without giving any
consideration to alternative plans, despite the fact that none of us have seen any detailed design
for the borough-based jails,” Holden said in a statement.
“My bill to simply study the cost of rebuilding the island to create a cost comparison has been brushed aside when it could have given our constituents a more complete picture of how their tax dollars will be spent.”
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9 Comments
The Mayor desperately is looking for a win — any win — especially after his failed bid for President. Who can believe his last minute, best guess lowered estimate of 3,300 inmates made today is any more believable than a pie-in-the-sky campaign promise made days before an election?
Who can believe this plan will only cost $11 BILLION and will be completed by 2026? Where’s the revised sketch for the proposed new jail for Queens? Is it still 27-stories high? Why isn’t there a comprehensive plan to deal with all of the problems with Rikers, and not just the facility itself?
Lots of questions remain. And none of the boroughs want it. What’s the rush anyway?
So where will Rudy go after 2026?
Keep it open all of our demorats need to be jailed close ny
What does that mean, very stable genius?
So basically we now know that 2026 is the deadline to leave New York City before it turns into a real-life “Escape from New York” open-air prison.
Part of this mayor’s plan says the new jail build would be in the boroughs except for Staten Island, why is that? You cannot close an entire jail and “subdivide” it like you would a plot of land. This whole notion of letting out “minor” offenders and closing a major holding facility it to generate some sort of sympathy for the inmates and some sort of accolade for the mayor. No one seems to remember a certain left Kennedy organization that provided bail to inmates and guess what happened those inmates got out and committed more crimes. The city’s idea of turning the island into a dedicated public space is a total joke. There is no need for more public seating areas, Citi bike parking, public parks that just require more and more maintenance. Everyone is worried about obesity in this day in age, how about making a multi use field for sports? A nice looking and well kept baseball field, roller hockey rink, football field are all lacking from each and every borough. You can have sport leagues, outdoor gymnastics, all sorts of outdoor as well as indoor activities that people will travel from all over to participate in.
Rikers island should remain opened. This is where Trump ,barr , Giuliani Pence , pampeo . Will go to jail
Yes and that’s where Biden and his son will get locked up too. The logical people want President Trump to get reelected. If anyone reading has a pension or 401K or equivalent they can all say it has done pretty well since he took office. President Trump and his office has done good for this country, why is most people ignoring this? Oh yes probably because they listen to adolescent AOC and company on the economy and climate change. Climate change does not mean that NYC might be a few degrees hotter, if Alaska turns into a desert, or Florida turns into Antartica that is climate change.
Who cares if all scientists disagree, he tweeted it once, it must be true. Make MAGA Again.