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COURIER LIFE, APRIL 1-7, 2022
BY US REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS
For too long the New York City Council
has ignored the needs of those that keep us
safe. As a public servant, I’ve spoken with
our law enforcement on the streets and our
corrections officers who keep dangerous
criminals behind bars about staffing shortages,
subsequent back-to-back 12-hour
shifts, and dangerous environments for
both guards and inmates on Rikers Island.
To deny any of this is to ignore countless
news stories, and even worse, the testimonies
of those that serve our communities as
corrections officers themselves.
Assaults on officers and inmates on
Rikers Island are at an all-time high. For
officers alone, assaults are up 24 percent,
while inmate-on-inmate attacks are up
18 percent in the last year. According to
reports, slashing and stabbings have increased
100 percent, now at 247 for 2021
up from 123 in 2020. Because of staffing
shortages and lack of specialized units,
requests for backup during attempts to
break up large-scale gang fights have gone
unanswered, further placing officers and
the growing inmate population at risk.
Just as we’ve seen an alarming 75 percent
spike in NYPD officer retirements
due to anti-police policies and rhetoric,
the “impossible working conditions” at
Rikers are causing corrections officers
to leave in droves. Efforts to replenish
the ranks have fallen short, however,
OP-ED
with only one class of 75 cadets graduating
from the academy over the last three
years. According to the Corrections Officers
Benevolent Association (COBA),
an estimated 2,500 officers must be onboarded
if there is any hope of remediating
these dangerous situations or making
working conditions safer.
What’s even more disturbing is the lack
of attention our city officials have given to
the number of female corrections officers
and nurses falling victim to heinous sexual
attacks while on the job.In the last 12
months,over two dozen reports have been
filed by female corrections officers and
nurses at Rikers who’ve been sexually
assaulted or raped while simply attempting
to perform their duties. These facilities
are understaffed, our corrections officers
are under-supported, and unless the
Council corrects course, things will only
get worse, all at the expense of those who
are trying to keep our communities safe.
While I’m encouraged that Mayor Eric
Adams has vowed to bring solitary confinement
back as a punitive measure for
violent inmates, I remain extremely concerned
with his willingness to continue
former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to
close Rikers Island by 2027 in favor of the
so-called “Borough Based Jail System.”
We can all agree that the facilities on Rikers
are in desperate need of investment
and modernization, however, the closure
of Rikers and the creation of several
smaller facilities will not do anything
to address the problems we’re seeing at
Rikers today — in fact, it may only make
them worse. Rikers’ proximity to four of
the five boroughs and the natural security
of an island, surrounded by swift currents
and connected to the mainland by a nearly
mile-long bridge is obvious. In fact, recent
reports have highlighted that escape attempts
have been unsuccessful specifically
because the jails are on a controlled island.
Setting aside enormous challenges
in construction, financing, and swaying
public opinion, there are already indicators
that this “borough-based” plan will
fail.In total,the four proposed jails are
expected to have a bed capacity of only
3,544, when the city’s own estimates suggest
that a reduced jail capacity would
still need 5,000 beds. Before these borough
based jails have even been built,
they are already unable to handle the
city’s minimum needs.
In addition to the logistical difficulties,
we must also consider the opinions
of residents who would live and work
around these facilities. My constituents
are adamantly opposed to the disruption
the construction of these facilities would
create, on top of the potential danger of
having a Rikers-like facility down the
block. Likewise, residents and community
members in the Bronx and Manhattan
have protested or have gone so far as
to take legal action to stop the proposed
jails in their neighborhoods.
Over the past 20 years, we’ve witnessed
amazing growth and development
in downtown Brooklyn. What was once
a fairly desolate stretch of Atlantic Avenue,
has transformed into blocks filled
with boutiques, restaurants, apartment
buildings, a new YMCA, hotels, and large
chain stores like Marshalls, Michaels,
and Pet Smart. Within a block or two
sit multi-million-dollar townhouses and
Brownstones that make up the neighborhoods
of Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill,
and the Southeastern fringe of Brooklyn
Heights. Beautiful neighborhoods that
will be dwarfed by the 295-foot-tall jail,
which is twice as tall as the current facility.
This is far from an ideal site to locate
approximately 900 dangerous inmates.
It is time to invest in Rikers Island, not
abandon it. In 2017, the plans to build these
jails were proposed at a price tag of $9 billion.
Considering inflation, labor shortages,
and supply chain issues our country
is facing today, the true cost is much
higher.
We as a community must advocate
for our corrections officers — give them
what they need to do their jobs, modernize
Rikers Island, and strike the plans to
put jails in our neighborhoods.
Nicole Malliotakis represents CD11.
People watching the
Oscars on Sunday
night were shocked
and appalled to see Oscar
winning actor Will
Smith smack comedian/
presenter Chris Rock on
live television over a terrible,
distasteful joke about
Smith’s wife.
The shocking act immediately
sparked a social media
firestorm and debate about
who was right, and who was
wrong, in the debacle. Almost
everyone has an opinion,
and almost everyone has
an argument to explain why
the other take is wrong.
The incident not only
overshadowed the entire
Oscar ceremony, a night
celebrating the best in film,
but also President Biden’s
remark on Saturday that
Russian autocrat Vladimir
Putin “cannot remain in
power.” Biden’s very honest
remark came at the end
of a major speech outlining
the free world’s efforts to
help Ukraine battle Putin’s
armies, while also castigating
Putin as a war criminal.
Everything else that
Biden said that morning
went out the door, while
reporters and social media
pounced on Biden saying
that Putin had to go.
It sparked a debate about
whether Biden was right
or wrong; almost everyone
had an opinion, and an explanation
about why the
other take was wrong.
But while everyone
sweats the small stuff about
Will Smith’s slap or President
Biden’s remark, the most important
news keeps getting
pushed to the back burner.
And there’s a lot going on,
not just around the world, but
right here at home.
On March 28, the city
embarked on dismantling
homeless encampments,
ridding the sidewalks of
eyesores but also displacing
unhoused individuals with
nowhere else to go. Crime
continues to be a major
problem in New York. State
lawmakers are now considering
rolling back some bail
reform laws that critics say
allow violent criminals to
return to the streets quickly.
Nationally, a House committee
investigating the
Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the
U.S. Capitol found more of
the former president’s uncooperative
aides in contempt.
They made that decision
hours after a federal judge
ruled, citing evidence in the
ongoing investigation, that
ex-President Donald Trump
may have committed a felony
in concert with those
responsible for the attack
that sought to overturn the
results of the 2020 election.
And on all three of these
issues — the plight of the
homeless, criminal justice
reform, and American democracy
itself — there’s
little to no public shock or
outcry. You won’t find wallto
wall coverage on TV
news about it, though these
are truly the important matters
that touch our lives and
should elicit our concern.
Instead, everyone’s focused
on the slap heard
‘round the world — until
the next popular controversy
comes along
EDITORIAL
Sweating the small stuff
Replacing Rikers is a bad move