A member of the Board of Correction and Mayor de Blasio’s new task force on punitive segregation is confident the city can develop a new model for managing people behind bars.
‘The one-year delay in first year funding is an opportunity to avoid further exacerbating existing inequalities in our city and communities. The city must reconsider the plan to build a new jail in Mott Haven.’
‘Men take the jail phone one by one to ask me questions. They beg me to contact their families so I can tell their families that they love them in case they die.’
‘The closure of the Rikers jails gives us a once-in-a-generation chance to think about the infrastructure that our city needs now and will need in the future, as well as the infrastructure we currently have that harms environmental justice communities.’
A look at City Limits’ coverage is far from a comprehensive rendering of the Rikers saga. But it does provide a sense of how long this argument has been going on, of the twists and turns it has taken, and of the many passionate viewpoints New Yorkers have about it.
‘This is the right time for the city to also make a bold commitment to support people with serious and persistent mental and behavioral health needs, in ways that will prevent contact (or further contact) with law enforcement at every possible juncture.’
‘The only population of people increasing on Rikers happens to be the one population fully under the governor’s control – people on parole.’
‘The plan that is in progress right now is the right plan, it’s one that is viable, it’s moving.’
Advocates believe the two bills under consideration would help, but say broader changes are needed to fix the system and facilitate the closure of Rikers Island.
The number of outstanding questions reflects the size of the population involved, the magnitude of the construction projects the effort entails and the unique nature of building temporary housing for people who live there involuntarily.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
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