4 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 24, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens DA candidates clash on jails plan
Koslowitz votes to approve plan despite outrage from constituents
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e leader of the Queens delegation to
the City Council faced a daunting task
leading up to its historic 36-13 vote to
approve the city’s plan to close the prison
complex on Rikers Island and replace
it with four borough-based community
jails.
Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz withstood
intense blowback from her constituents
during an intense public review
process for her support of a prison facility
in Kew Gardens at the location of the old
Queens Detention Complex.
“I would not have supported this proposal
if I believed that it would have a
negative impact on the community that
I love,” Koslowitz said. “I’ve represented
this community for over two decades,
and have lived in it for over half a century,
and I could never in good conscience
harm my neighbors. I passionately believe
that we took a historic step today to create
a more just and humane criminal system
in New York City.”
Before Th ursday’s vote, Koslowitz
admitted that she was infl uenced by testimony
given by several formerly incarcerated
people during a City Council
hearing on the borough-based jail plan.
“It’s a humane thing that we’re doing
here. I have been to Rikers. I have been
to the Kew Gardens jail. Th ey weren’t
cells; they were cages where people were
put,” she said. “Eighty percent of the
people have not been convicted yet and
they’re treated like animals. Th is has to
stop.”
While Community Board 9 voted
against the plan in May and last month
called on the City Council to vote no on
the plan because it violated the New York
City Charter, community groups were
outraged from the start due to the sheer
size of the proposed facility, so the city
scaled it back from a height of 245 feet to
195 feet — from 27 stories to 19.
Koslowitz negotiated with the city on
community benefi ts until they reached
“points of agreement” that included
676 public parking spaces — 150 more
than the original plan — and 605 accessory
parking spaces so Department of
Correction personnel will not utilize
public parking.
Th e city also agreed to not use open
space as staging areas during construction
of the new facility; to make sewer
upgrades and fl ood mitigation if necessary;
to add eight police offi cers to the
102nd Precinct; to renovate the gym,
auditorium and school yard at P.S. 99
and install outdoor security camera there
and at P.S. 139; and upgrade the lighting
system for the Austin Street underpass
located beneath Union Turnpike.
“Th is is the hardest vote I have taken in
my entire career, but you know what? I
go to sleep at night and I sleep very well,”
Koslowitz said. “Th e people that say no
have no solutions. Th ey just say no.”
Th e vote also had a profound eff ect
on Councilman Daniel Dromm, who
became the fi rst elected offi cial to call
for the closure of the prison complex at
Rikers Island when he fi rst took offi ce
nearly a decade ago.
“Sadly, it is too late for Kalief Browder,
the child who was tortured to the point of
suicide aft er his release; Layleen Polanco
Extravaganza, the transgender woman
who died in solitary confi nement; Jerome
Murdugh, who baked in his cell; Rolando
Perez Jr., who was denied medication
and left for dead aft er a seizure; Jason
Echevarria, who was ignored aft er eating
a packet of powdered detergent that
was given to detainees to clean out their
sewage-fl ooded cells; Ronald Spear, who
begged to see a doctor but was refused
and instead beaten to death by an angry
correction offi cer; my dear friend, who
survived Rikers but is dealing with a lifetime
of trauma; and the countless New
Yorkers who have known fi rsthand the
brutality of Rikers,” Dromm said. “To
them, I dedicate my vote.”
Courtesy of Joe Murray
Republican nominee for Queens DA Joe Murray
is adamantly opposed to closing the prison
complex on Rikers Island.
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
When the City Council passed the
land use plan to close the prison complex
of Rikers Island and build four borough
based jails by 2026, it off ered a litmus
test in the Queens district attorney’s
race which will be decided next month.
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz will face the Republican nominee
Joe Murray on Election Day on Tuesday,
Nov. 5.
“Th ere is a deep culture of violence and
lack of accountability at Rikers Island and
I applaud its closure,” Katz said. “I don’t
support the plan to build a 1,500-person
jail in Queens, regardless of where the city
wants to build it. Rather, we need a small,
community-based facility that will allow
people to be closer to their communities
and receive the services they need, but is
not so large that we end up putting more
people behind bars.”
Joe Murray, a former NYPD offi -
cer turned criminal defense lawyer, has
an offi ce on Queens Boulevard in Kew
Gardens where the city plans to build
the new jail at the old Queens Detention
Complex. Unlike Katz, Murray opposes
Mayor de Blasio’s plan to close Rikers
Island, and even appeared at an aft ernoon
protest outside City Hall in support of
Keep Rikers Open on Oct. 16.
“If Rikers Island closes, the mayor’s plan
would place a new jail in Kew Gardens
directly impacting the residents of our
community. Th eir logic is to build new
facilities across the boroughs to allow
families and friends of detainees easier
access for visitation, but this is simply
not true,” Murray said. “In essence, they
would like to normalize incarceration
as if it’s another aft er-school program. I
believe jail should be a place you don’t
want to go back to and not something
that should be normalized in our community.
I believe that the closing is also
a serious public safety concern should
inmates escape. As an attorney, there are
always lockdowns at the detention centers.
No one has ever escaped from Rikers
Island. It was built to detain people who
have committed crimes against New York
City citizens. It was never supposed to be
pleasant and a comfortable environment
for criminals.”
Murray was a registered Democrat and
supporter of Judge Greg Lasak during the
Democratic primary. When Lasak fi nished
a distant third in the race, Murray
sought, and was given, the GOP’s party
line aft er attorney Daniel Kogan left the
ticket following his nomination to the
state Supreme Court in August.
Photo by Mark Hallum
City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz voted in favor of the city’s plan to close Rikers Island and build
a borough-based jail in her district.
Photo by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, the Democratic nominee for District Attorney supports
closing Rikers Island.
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