WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JUNE 3, 2021 13
The job to close Rikers isn’t done yet — New Yorkers
deserve to know how our next mayor will do it
BY TRACIE GARDNER
As election day approaches, New York City
mayoral candidates are making it clear
where they stand on several key issues. From
transportation to climate change to the economy,
candidates are letting New Yorkers know exactly
how they plan to bring tangible change to one of the
most diverse cities in the country. However, there
is one issue that candidates haven’t adequately addressed
— and that’s the closing of Rikers Island.
In 2019, following years of advocacy, the City
Council fi nally approved a sweeping and historic
plan to overhaul New York City’s correctional system,
including closing Rikers by 2026. If that deadline is
to be met, the city’s new mayor has substantial work
to do – and voters deserve to know precisely what
candidates have in mind.
Rikers Island is New York City’s primary jail complex
and biggest nightmare. Intentionally built in a
remote location far from the rest of the city, Rikers is
notorious for its inhumane conditions. People incarcerated
there are subjected to solitary confi nement,
violence and sexual assault, insuffi cient temperature
control, fl ooding, unhealthy food and, more recently,
the unbridled spread of coronavirus inside the jail
due to a willful lack of preventive or protective efforts
by offi cials.
While NYC mayoral candidates agree that Rikers
embodies multiple human rights violations and must
be closed, there is still a major gulf between what
actually needs to be done and what candidates have
committed to doing.
Let’s be very clear: the problem of Rikers is getting
worse. Conditions are still violent and unsafe
while the number of New Yorkers jailed there only
increases.
There’s no way around it – the next mayor will
inherit this stain on New York City. And right now,
most of the candidates have failed to demonstrate
that they grasp the magnitude of this issue or the
mountain of tasks that require urgent attention to
successfully close it down.
While Maya Wiley supports the closure of Rikers,
and many of the above-mentioned measures, there
are some glaring omissions in her plan, including
shift ing away from the criminalization of substance
use disorder and ensuring all New Yorkers can access
the treatment they need to get and stay well – in their
communities. She wants to remove mental health
crisis management from the NYPD, but ironically
hasn’t said the same for substance use disorders.
Shaun Donovan likewise has asserted Rikers must
be shut down and included important measures such
as expanding alternatives to incarceration in his plan,
but he similarly neglects to address the reality that a
signifi cant number of individuals are sent to Rikers
because of drugs.
Both Mr. Donovan and Ms. Wiley appear to understand
broadly the many layers of decarceration, but
neither has explicitly described immediate steps they
would take to expel the stigma that prevents so many
formerly incarcerated individuals from securing the
life essentials they need to thrive in their communities
and avoid re-incarceration.
Meanwhile, Scott Stringer, one of New York’s fi rst
public offi cials to endorse the plan to close Rikers, is
OP-ED
now backpedaling. He wants to “re-work the current
jails plan,” but provided no additional details.
Andrew Yang acknowledged that Rikers needs to
be closed and that any new borough-based jails must
be a dramatic leap forward in conditions, treatment,
culture and the goal should be to have jails that “refl
ect our values” in what appears to be the fi rst time
he’s ever endorsed the borough-based jail plan. However,
he also said the time frame for closing Rikers
needs to be fl exible because the city is in the middle
of a crisis. But Rikers is a crisis – right now.
Dianne Morales agreed that the city needs to close
Rosie’s The Rose M. Singer Center, the women’s jail
on Riker’s Island by 2027, but has issued confl icting
statements on whether the city should build the new
borough-based jails at all!
Shutting down Rikers is an absolute imperative.
It’s about saving the lives of incarcerated people,
saving their families, and strengthening our shared
communities citywide. Rikers must be treated like
the emergency that it is.
Tracie Gardner is the vice president of policy
advocacy at Legal Action Center.
SNAPS
MMM, DOG CHOW!
COURTESY OF COUNCILMAN ROBERT HOLDEN’S OFFICE
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