16 SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Jail hearing vexes City Council members
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
The City Council chamber was
nearly filled to capacity last
Thursday as lawmakers and
criminal justice advocates spoke out
on the mayor’s plan to replace Rikers
Island with borough-based jails.
The Sept. 5 hearing was the only
chance for City Council members
on the Land Use Committee and the
public to question officials from the
mayor’s office on the proposal. Activists
lined the boundaries of City
Hall to make a statement in favor of
closing Rikers Island without the
borough-based facilities.
Councilman Rafael Salamanca
cornered Dana Kaplan, deputy
director of Close Rikers and Justice
Initiatives (MOCJ), into sharing that
the decision as to where the jails
would be located preceded any form
of public outreach and the decision
was settled upon by “the powers that
be” without community input.
Kaplan said closing Rikers will reduce
the number of people in city detention
from 11,000 to around 4,000.
“We’re talking about moving from
11 active jails across the city to four,”
Kaplan said. “The goals of this plan
are to build a city that is more fair…
This is an incredible reduction in the
number of people in detention and
it’s historic.”
With chatter earlier in 2019
centered around the possible implications
of a jail in Kew Gardens,
Elizabeth Glazer, Director of the
Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice,
said it is rare for a crime to be committed
outside one of DOC’s smaller
facilities because of the surveillance
and general lack of foot traffic
around jails.
Kaplan also added that MOCJ had
looked into how a borough-based
jail would impact property values,
a primary concern for the Queens
Neighborhood Advisory Committee,
and they determined that other jail
facilities have not been a detriment
to homeowners.
Kew Gardens currently has a jail:
the Queens House of Detention. But
this facility is more or less only used
to stage detainees for court appearances
adjacent to the jail. The Queens
Detention Complex, which was shuttered
years ago, would be demolished
and replaced by a new, multi-story
jail under the mayor’s plan.
Cynthia Brann, commissioner for
the Department of Corrections, said the
jail system needs to refl ect the agency’s
“modern values expressed commitment
to closing Rikers Island for the age of
facilities currently in use.
A significant capital investment
would bring DOC’s facilities in
a state of good repair, but Brann
argued that it would not resolve
cultural and logistical issues posed
by keeping detainees in one centralized
location.
Brann also pointed out that the
switch to a smaller detention system
would have a negative impact on
DOC, many of whom will be laid off.
She could not say for certain exactly
how many DOC staff members
would be facing unemployment by
2026 but that the agency had held
open forums.
The Kew Gardens facility will rise
around 20 stories and house no more
than 1,150 detainees. It will include
community space at the ground level
and offer better accommodations for
family visitation.
But the key diff erence for the Queens
facility will be that it will be the only
facility to house women as well with a
maternity ward and nursery.
Judge Jonathan Lippman’s testimony
in favor of the borough-based
approach to detention was consistent
with the fact that he led the commission
brought into existence by
Melissa Mark-Viverito during her
term as Council Speaker in 2017.
“There is no viable path to closing
Rikers that doesn’t include boroughbased
facilities, Lippman said. “Rejecting
the plan will mean Rikers
continues to exist for generations
to come. That cannot be our legacy.
This is, in the end, a moral issue. The
Rikers Island jails disproportionately
impact black and brown communities
and are an affront to humanity.
We must shutter Rikers and once
and for all remove this stain from
the soul of our great city.”
Another contentious discussion
topic was regarding the
Rikers annex simply known as
“the barge.”
MOCJ officials said the timeline
for closing this is in the envelope of
the rest of the close Rikers plan; to
be away from the island entirely by
2026.
9-11 bill mandates lessons on tragedy
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Legislation sponsored by two
Queens lawmakers that mandates
all public schools observe
the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks with moments of silence
and classroom discussions was
signed into law by Governor Andrew
Cuomo Monday.
The new law, eff ective immediately
across the state just two days before the
18th anniversary of the day of infamy, encourages
dialogue and education in the
classroom to ensure future generations
have an understanding of the terrorist
attacks and their place in history.
“9/11 was one of the single darkest
periods in the state’s and this nation’s
history, and we owe it to those we lost
and to the countless heroes who ran
towards danger that day and the days
that followed to do everything we can
to keep their memory alive,” Cuomo
said. “Be establishing this annual day
of remembrance and a brief moment of
silence in public schools, we will help
ensure we never forget, not just the
pain of that moment but of the courage,
sacrifi ce and outpouring of love that
defi ned our response.”
State Senator Joseph Addabbo said
the signifi cance of the tragic events,
whether it be the loss of loved ones or
the largest rescue operation the nation
ever witnessed, should not be lost by
school students who are too young to
have witnessed it themselves.
“The average school-age citizen in
New York may have no personal recollection
of these events, having not yet
been born in 2001, making it imperative
that our public education system
take the time to educate students in
both the loss and heroism experienced
on 9/11,” Addabbo said. “By mandating
a moment of refl ection every year on
the September 11th Remembrance
Day, we are encouraging dialogue
and education in the classroom, and
ensuring that future generations will
better understand this day and its
place in history. Many families within
my district were deeply impacted by
the tragic events of 9/11 and I certainly
had them in mind when working on
this legislation.”
The bill was passed in the lower chamber
by Assemblywoman Stacey Pheff er
Amato. Both Amato and Addabbo represent
portions of southwest Queens.
“Students graduating from high
school in 2019 were just newborns
during the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11, 2001, and soon there will be no
students in the national public school
system born at the time of 9/11,” she
said. “By mandating a brief moment
of silent refl ection every year, we may
ensure that future generations will
better understand this day and its
signifi cance in our history. Governor
Cuomo understands the importance of
educating our children about our state
and country’s history.”
Addabbo added, “Since 2001, our
country has been united through
four simple words, ‘We will never
forget’ and with the governor signing
this measure, we can ensure that all
school children will continue to keep
those words active in their hearts and
minds.”
Workers on the pile at Ground Zero
during the recovery eff ort after the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
Beth A. Keiser/AP
An activist at a Sept. 5 City Hall hearing on borough-based jails.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
/WWW.QNS.COM
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