NYC to Shut Down
Infamous Rikers Island.
The move to close the jail was confirmed after a vote passed
36-13 in the N.Y.C. city council.
What we are doing today will reshape the city for generations to come and impact the lives of every New Yorker. , City Council speaker Corey Johnson, via NPR.
According to NPR, Rikers will be replaced by
four separate jails in America's largest city by 2026.
Every N.Y.C borough, except
for Staten Island, will house
one of the new or expanded jails.
The plan is expected to
cost around $8 billion.
Critics of the plan, including the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, have call it ill-timed.
There is simply no way to cut the average daily jail population — which the city itself has described as 'more violent and difficult to manage' — that much more without leaving dangerous criminals on the street, Manhattan Institute's Rafael A. Mangual, via NPR.
Rikers Island has long been
considered to be a notorious jail.
Besides a violent reputation,
the complex is also known
for its inhumane conditions.
Those held in Rikers are often there while awaiting trial sentencing