WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 31, 2018 3
Council members introduce bill to create Rikers commission
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BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Councilman Robert Holden continued
his push to keep Rikers
Island open with new legislation
introduced this week that gained
support from several other Queens
Council members.
On May 23, Holden introduced a
bill that would create a commission
to study the cost of renovating Rikers
Island, which he said is a vital piece of
information to consider before the city
continues moving forward with Mayor
Bill de Blasio’s plan to reduce the inmate
population, close the prison and open
smaller jails in each borough by 2027.
Fellow Queens Councilmen Eric
Ulrich and Paul Vallone, as well as
Councilman Mark Gjonaj from the
Bronx and Councilman Kalman Yeger
from Brooklyn, also voiced support of
the bill.
“We have the numbers where borough
based jails are concerned, but we
should know the cost of rejuvenating
Rikers’ facilities to determine if it’s a
viable alternative,” Holden said in a
press release. “If we’re going to have
taxpayers foot the bill for the city’s jail
facilities, we should be able to show
them the facts and fi gures.”
Last year, the Council commissioned
a study led by former New York State
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman that
determined the cost of using borough
based jails to replace Rikers
would be approximately $10.6 billion.
The Lippman Commission ultimately
recommended the closure of Rikers,
however, and de Blasio has since announced
that the fi rst of the island’s
nine jails will close this summer.
Holden has been one of the more
outspoken leaders against the mayor’s
plan along with Queens County Senior
Executive Assistant District Attorney
James Quinn. The two represented the
borough at a City & State panel discussion
in March and later joined forces
again at a Juniper Park Civic Association
meeting to present their case for
why Rikers should remain open.
The primary arguments for closing
Rikers Island, according to the
Lippman Commission’s fi ndings, are
that its buildings are dilapidated, it’s
diffi cult for family members to visit
inmates, it takes too much time and
resources to ferry inmates back and
forth to court and the facility lacks
proper space for on-site programming.
Holden, Quinn and other critics
argue that closing the prison would
release suspected felons back onto
the streets, cost far too much of the
taxpayers’ dollars and lead to safety
issues within the communities that
would house the borough jails.
“The infrastructure at Rikers is solid,
and before we sink billions into new
jails, we should have all the information,”
Holden said. “This study will help us
gain a clearer picture of what it would
look like to keep Rikers Island open.”
According to the bill, the 10-person
commission would consist of three
members appointed by the mayor,
three members appointed by the
speaker of the council and four members
appointed jointly by the speaker
and the mayor. The members — who
cannot be city employees — would
serve on the commission for one year
and meet on at least four occasions. A
report on the commission’s fi ndings
would be given to the mayor and
Council no later than six months aft er
completing the study.
“Any decision of this magnitude
needs to be made with thorough and
reliable facts and fi gures,” said Vallone
in a press release. “I’m proud to support
this legislation because if and when
Rikers Island is closed, we need to be
able to tell the 8.5 million New Yorkers
in this city that we did our homework
and looked at all the options.”
De Blasio’s plan identifies the
Queens borough jail site as the Queens
House of Detention in Kew Gardens,
which is currently used by the Department
of Corrections for occasional
training exercises.
Overhead view of Rikers Island.
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