Kew Gardens jail proposal goes to borough hall hearing
BY MARK HALLUM
Concerned Queens
residents and activists spoke
their minds at yet another
hearing on the Mayor’s office’s
proposal to close Rikers Island
in exchange for four smaller
borough-based jails located
adjacent to courthouses.
Borough President Melinda
Katz heard viewpoints on the
topic on June 13 as prominent
activists in the fight for
justice reform advocated
for the closure of Rikers for
the dangerous conditions it
promotes with many opposing
any new jails.
Stanley Richards,
executive vice president
of the Fortune Society,
was incarcerated
himself and spoke at
the hearing offering his
written testimony.
“When I was younger, I
spent about ten years behind
bars for the harms I caused,
including two years on Rikers
Island. When I came home
from prison, I dedicated
myself to helping people like
me succeed on a different
path,” Richards said. “I also
serve on New York City’s
Board of Correction as
the Vice-Chair, which sets
the minimum standards
and provides oversight
and accountability to the
Department of Correction…
I know the hell of Rikers and
I know it has to be closed as
soon as possible. Every day
it stays open is a day our
loved ones and neighbors are
harmed. The neglect, lack of
accountability, and logistical
problems caused by Rikers
Island’s isolation cannot be
solved. The City’s plan is
not perfect, but it is our best
shot to close Rikers, and the
pressure created by the plan
is helping drive down levels of
incarceration. We cannot lose
that momentum.”
As representatives of the
Mayor’s Office of Criminal
Justice (MOCJ) announced
at the hearing, the previously
proposed 1.2 million square
foot structure has been
reduced in capacity from 5,000
detainees down 4,000. The
agency attributed this change
to bail reform which was
recently passed in Albany.
Katz has shifted her
stance on the issue to and
fro, having back-stepped
in February from her full
support of the borough-based
jails proposal put together by
the MOCJ and the Lippman
Commission, which built
a set of recommendations
for proceeding with edging
Rikers out.
Photo: Felton Davis/Flickr
The borough president has
called on Mayor Bill de Blasio
as the discussion heated up,
calling on hizzoner to start the
process over with more public
input as residents argued
that their was not enough
inclusion on their end.
De Blasio said in April that
the plan’s inexorable crawl
toward completion, via a
ULURP application, would not
be slowed toward its 20127.
“From a public safety, a
criminal justice, and a moral
perspective, this proposal is
the right approach. The nine
jails on Rikers Island make
New York City less safe,”
Robert Fiske, U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District
of New York also said in
written testimony presented
at Thursday’s hearing. “In
many respects, they leave
people worse off than when
they enter. We can and must
do better, starting with
efforts to hold fewer people
in jail. I am encouraged
by the progress that has
been made over the past
few years in that regard,
and expect this progress to
continue. For the smaller
number of people who
will remain incarcerated,
properly-designed jails in
the boroughs that are closer
to courthouses, family
members, lawyers and other
service providers provide
an opportunity to break
with the terrible legacy of
Rikers Island.”
Read more at QNS.com
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