12 APRIL 6, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM EDITORIAL What should we do about Rikers Island? Closing Rikers Island over the THE HOT TOPIC STORY: Queens residents can expect their Con Edison bills to go up starting this Saturday SUMMARY: In order to help bail out the aging nuclear power plants that are operating in upstate New York, the PSC is moving forward with their plan to increase utility rates for Con Edison customers. REACH: 46,651 (as of 4/3/17) COMMENTS: ESTABLISHED 1908 Co-Publishers VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA SCHNEPS Editor-in-Chief ROBERT POZARYCKI Classifi ed Manager DEBORAH CUSICK Assistant Classifi ed Manager MARLENE RUIZ Reporter ANTHONY GIUDICE © 2017 SCHNEPS NY MEDIA, LLC. General Publication Offi ce: 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 TELEPHONE: 1-718-821-7500/7501/7502/7503 FAX: 1-718-224-5441 E-MAIL: editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com WEB SITE: www.qns.com ON TWITTER @ridgewoodtimes PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY FOR 108 YEARS COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY: Accuracy in receiving ads over the telephone cannot be guaranteed. This newspaper is responsible for only one incorrect insertion and only for that portion of the ad in which the error appears. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to make sure copy does not contravene the Consumer Protection Law or any other requirement.TIMES NEWSWEEKLY Is Listed With The Standard Rate & Data And Is A Member Of The New York Press Association SNAPS SUNSET OVER MASPETH PHOTO BY ROBERT POZARYCKI Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @QNS or by emailing editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps). next decade may be one of the most diffi cult tasks the city has ever been challenged to complete. Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted as much in announcing the eff ort on March 31. Much has been said about the conditions on the island of prisons, how its separation from the city proper helped create an isolated culture of inhumanity and violence where the well-being of prisoners and guards is at risk every day. The most immediate challenge is logistical; it is also the most important challenge. Where else can the city fi nd space for thousands of prisoners beyond Rikers? There are jails across the city, but others will need to be opened to accommodate them. That’s going to happen even as de Blasio eyes further criminal justice reform that will ultimately reduce the city’s need for jail space. Building new jails to replace Rikers will be a diffi cult sell for this city, and especially in Queens. Consider the furious protests unleashed almost every time a new homeless shelter pops up in an underused hotel. That response comes for something that houses people who are law-abiding, down-on-their-luck persons. No community in this borough would accept a correctional facility for criminals without a tremendous fi ght. We imagine that would hold true for other parts of the city where jails would be proposed. The ideal solution would be to renovate Rikers over a period of time, building and rebuilding diff erent facilities to house prisoners based on their security risks and needs. On paper, it would seem better to keep prisoners as far away from us as possible; simply reforming and renovating the prisons might seem like all that’s needed. But Retired State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, who led the commission investigating Rikers Island, made a great point: the geophysical separation of Rikers Island from the city also leads to a psychological disconnect among those who are put there. He noted that it “severs connections with families and communities, with harmful consequences for anyone who spends even a few days on the island.” That’s something which no amount of renovation to Rikers Island could ever repair. How will we meet this challenge to close our city’s most abominable prison? Do we take up that challenge and fi nd a way to make it happen without destroying neighborhoods? Do we make the attempt to overhaul Rikers in the hope that we can eliminate the violent culture there? Or do we just look away and pretend our city doesn’t have a problem? Honestly, we don’t have as of yet a good answer to these diffi cult questions. But we are very much interested in what you, the reader, believe should be done. Drop us a line by email to editorial@ qns.com, or write to Robert Pozarycki, Editor-in-Chief, The Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
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