12 SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Leaving a mess behind
The protesters who want Rikers
Island closed and the union
representing the Corrections
offi cers who work there share little
common ground when it comes to the
future of the jail facility.
But that common ground is firm
footing. They agree that Rikers Island’s
current state is inhumane, safe for no
one, and demands immediate remedy.
Twelve inmates have died on Rikers
this year. Inmates live in fi lthy conditions
amid close quarters as a deadly
pandemic rages on. Corrections offi cers
are subjected to the same conditions and
physical violence, working double and
triple shift s as many of their colleagues
have walked off the job.
Rikers Island isn’t fi t for the worst
criminals or our worst enemies. It’s an
embarrassing, shameful failure of an
administration that lost its way.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has publicly
acknowledged the untenable situation
on Rikers. He’s promised all kinds of
corrective action to address the chaos
— from adding NYPD offi cers to courts
to move more Corrections offi cers to
EDITORIAL
THE HOT TOPIC
STORY:
Oakland Gardens middle school
named 2021 National Blue Ribbon
School
SUMMARY:
An Oakland Gardens public school
was recently recognized as one of the
best in the nation, along with 18 other
institutions in New York state.
REACH:
22,576 (as of 09/27/2021)
ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ZACHARY GEWELB
Classified Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classified Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
ANGELICA ACEVEDO
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
JULIA MORO
BILL PARRY
© 2021 SCHNEPS NY MEDIA, LLC.
General Publication Office: 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361
TELEPHONE: 1-718-260-4535
FAX: 1-718-224-5441
E-MAIL: editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com
WEB SITE: www.qns.com
ON TWITTER @ridgewoodtimes
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
FOR 110 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
Human rights activists protest outside Gracie Mansion demanding the closure of Rikers Island.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
the island; to speeding up the intake
process; to ordering emergency repairs
where required.
De Blasio has also gone to war with
the Corrections Officers Benevolent
Association (COBA), alleging that the
union orchestrated an illegal job action
by allowing many Corrections offi cers
assigned to Rikers to go AWOL.
The mayor also said the city’s longterm
plan to shutter Rikers by 2026
and move to a community-based jail
system will go on to the end, leaving
much of that responsibility to his likely
successor, Brooklyn Borough President
and Democratic mayoral nominee Eric
Adams.
But in less than four months, likely-
Mayor Adams is going to inherit a Rikers
Island in complete turmoil.
De Blasio’s short-term solutions
are mere bandages; the wound won’t
heal between now and the time the next
mayor takes the oath of offi ce on New
Year’s Day 2022.
Adams is going to have to take
immediate steps to end inmate abuse,
isolation and death; protect Corrections
offi cers working on the island; repair
the city’s frayed relationship with the
officers’ union; and institute other
reforms to ensure no future inmate or
guard taking that long drive over the
Rikers Island Bridge is subjected to
harm.
The next mayor is going to have to do
that because the current mayor doesn’t
seem particularly interested in leaving
Rikers in better shape for his successor.
/WWW.QNS.COM
/www.qns.com
link
/www.qns.com
link
