Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office
2017: Speaker Mark-Viverito and Mayor de Blasio announce the plan to close Rikers.
A little shy of four years ago, reporter Ed Morales published this line on this website: “City Limits contacted all 51 members of the City Council, the five borough presidents and the three citywide officials to ask whether they support closing Rikers. Most were noncommittal.”
On Thursday, at a stated meeting of the City Council, its members committed. Thirty-six Council members voted in favor of the mayor’s borough jails plan. Thirteen voted no and two were absent. (The vote tally is below.)
The Council also approved legislation intended to prevent future city governments from keeping Rikers open.
Many voices—advocates, officials and writers—have shaped the debate over the future of incarceration in New York City that hit led to Thursday’s vote. A look at City Limits’ coverage of the topic—both before and after our the comprehensive 2015 series Closing Rikers that we produced in partnership with City & State—is far from a comprehensive rendering of the Rikers saga. But it does provide a sense of how long this argument has been going on, of the twists and turns it has taken, and of the many passionate viewpoints New Yorkers have about it. All of that will certainly bear on the next chapters.
Prelude to a Debate
A City Considers its Options
From Pipe Dream to Plan
Countdown to a Decision
Close Rikers to Address the Violence of Jail Discrimination – For Now
11 Reasons Why De Blasio’s $11 Billion Jails Plan Will Fail
A Letter from Faith Leaders to the City Council on Borough Jails
NYC Should Learn from LA Before Building New Jails
Addressing Trauma is Key to Stopping Violence on Rikers and in the Jails That Will Replace It
The Unending Urgency of Closing Rikers
Decarcerating NYC Starts With Building Smaller Jails
Decisions on Jails are about People, Not Zoning
Closing Rikers and Building Borough Jails Would Create a More Humane NYC
The Three Questions NYC Must Answer if it is Serious About Closing Rikers
If it Approves Borough Jails, Council Must Invest in Mental Health
How New York Is Failing Those Left Behind At Rikers Island
Council Must Not Hide Behind ‘Member Deference’ on Borough Jails
NYC Can’t Close Rikers Until Albany Fixes Parole
‘Close Rikers’ Eschews Real Reform for a Real-Estate Drama
It’s Time to Improve and Embrace the Plan to Close Rikers Island
Mr. Mayor, it is Not Progressive to Build Cages for Humans
The Need for Correction Reform Goes Beyond Simply ‘Closing Rikers’
Lots of Talk About Closing Rikers, Not Enough About Shutting ‘Broken Windows’
Open Letter to the Mayor: NIMBY Needn’t Block Plans to Replace Rikers with Jails that Work
Dem Lawmaker Proposes Major Rikers Change
Shut Down Rikers, and Then What?
City Needs a Real Plan to Close Rikers, Lest One Failure Replace Another
Vote tally on the Borough Jails plan
Yes: Speaker Johnson, Adams, Ayala, Brannan, Chin, Cohen, Constantinides, Cornegy Jr., Cumbo, Dromm, Eugene, Gibson, Gjonaj, Grodenchik, Kallos, Koo, Koslowitz, Lancman, Lander, Levin, Levine, Louis, Miller, Moya, Perkins, Powers, Reynoso, Richards, Rivera, Rodriguez, Rose, Rosenthal, Salamanca Jr., Torres, Treyger and Vallone
No: Ampry-Samuel, Barron, Borelli, Cabrera, Deutsch, Diaz Sr., Espinal Jr., Holden, King, Matteo, Menchaca, Van Bramer and Yeger
Absent: Maisel and Ulrich
0 thoughts on “Rikers Closure Plan Passes: How We Got Here”
I wonder if anyone realizes the underlying motivation for closing Rikers!! See how much interest there would be here if a “ brown fields “ law prohibited building on sites of former correctional facilities!!