Your Neighborhood — Your News®
THE NEWSPAPER OF JAMAICA, HOLLIS & ST. ALBANS
75 cents
GET THE LATEST NEWS EVERY DAY AT QNS.COM
March 5-March 11, 2021
‘AN IMPORTANT, HISTORIC MOMENT’
Mayor de Blasio signs Queens councilman’s Renewable Rikers Act into law
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
The Renewable Rikers Act,
a package of legislation that
would transfer a portion of
Rikers Island from the Department
of Corrections (DOC) to
the Department of Citywide
Administrative Services
(DCAS) and initiate a study of
renewable energy generation
and storage there, was signed
into law on Thursday, Feb. 25.
Mayor Bill de Blasio called
it “an important, historic
moment” prior to signing
the bills introduced by Astoria
City Councilman Costa
Constantinides.
The package of legislation
consists of two bills: Intro.
1592 and Intro. 1593.
Intro 1592 transfers jurisdiction
of portions of Rikers
Island that are not in active
use as a jail site to the DCAS
beginning on July 1. The full
transfer of Rikers Island from
DOC to DCAS will be completed
by Aug. 31, 2027.
The bill also establishes
a Rikers Island Advisory
Committee that will make
recommendations on the future
uses of Rikers Island for
sustainability and resiliency
purposes. The committee will
be chaired by DCAS and will
include the Mayor’s Office of
Sustainability (MOS), the Department
of Environmental
Protection, the Department of
Sanitation, the Department of
Parks and Recreation, as well
as environmental justice representatives
and members of
the public who have been directly
impacted by incarceration
on the island.
Intro. 1593 requires MOS
to study the feasibility of
constructing renewable energy
sources on Rikers Island,
which could include wind or
solar power, and battery storage
facilities. The study will
look at how renewable energy
on the land can tie into the
city’s long-term energy plan to
phase out fossil fuels as part of
QNS file photo
the Climate Mobilization Act.
“For generations, Rikers
Island has been a symbol the
world over of our country’s
failures to truly embody the
principles of liberty and justice
for all,” said Constantinides,
chair of the City Council’s Environmental
Protection Committee.
“With the passage of
the Renewable Rikers Act into
law, however, we will finally
close the book on the island’s
brutal history. Now we can begin
the work of fulfilling the
promise of Renewable Rikers
and bringing true restorative
and environmental justice to
the communities that have
long suffered in its shadow.”
The Renewable Rikers vision
emerged from conversations
about what the post-carceral
future of the island may
look like, and was led by survivors
of Rikers who advocated
for its closure in partnership
with environmental justice
leaders.
“The Renewable Rikers
Act is an important step in
delivering restorative climate
justice and a clean energy future
for New York City,” said
Kate Gouin, acting director at
MOS.
Constantinides partnered
with the CUNY Law School’s
Center for Urban Environmental
Reform to expand on that
suggestion. Professor Rebecca
Bratspies, founding director of
the CUNY Law School Center
for Urban Environmental Reform,
estimated using 100 acres
of the land for solar energy
and battery storage could lay
the groundwork to justify closing
every peaking power plant
built in the last two decades.
Vol. 9, No. 10 28 total pages
Sunday,
March 14 at 10am
Tuesday,
March 16 at 7:30pm
NEW YORK FAMILY VIRTUAL
thecampfair.com
Video Chat with Camp Directors from your home.
link
/QNS.COM
/thecampfair.com
