Plan to close notorious Rikers jail complex by 2026 approved
Source: Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) New York City lawmakers voted Thursday to close the notorious Rikers Island jail complex, which has become synonymous with violence and neglect, and replace it with four smaller jails intended to be more modern and humane.
The City Council voted 36-13 to replace the complex with four smaller jails located closer to the citys main courthouses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.
Rikers is scheduled to shutter by 2026, ending a decadeslong run as one of the worlds largest jails.
Rikers island is a symbol of brutality and inhumanity and it is time for us to once and for all close Rikers Island, said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, a Democrat who shepherded the plan through the Council. As a city we must do everything we can to move away from the failed policies of mass incarceration.
-snip-
By KAREN MATTHEWS
17 minutes ago
Read more: https://apnews.com/6053d86faae64edbb315510e319c5a81
docgee
(870 posts)Demonaut
(8,927 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,636 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Plenty of available shipping containers there.
Or we could incarcerate the Trump syndicate at Doral. But I think that would violate international conventions on the treatment of prisoners.
Odoreida
(1,549 posts)... redevelop the island as condos.
Just the sort of thing Trump would do if he weren't president.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,369 posts)A bridge and the demolition would cost a fortune. Maybe turn it into a Halloween destination. Ooh, scary!
Odoreida
(1,549 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,902 posts)some seven years? What exactly am I missing?
Odoreida
(1,549 posts)After all it isn't the location that makes Riker's so notorious.
What reason do we have to believe the new jails will be "nicer"?