As a deepening humanitarian crisis inside the Rikers Island jail complex fuels efforts to release more detainees, a judge’s decision can come down to one key consideration: Do they have a stable address?
September 20, 2021 https://citylimits.org/2021/09/20/as-nycs-jail-crisis-worsens-stable-housing-could-be-the-difference-between-rikers-and-release/The Department of Correction (DOC) is refusing to disclose how it ensured the safety of inmates in its more restrictive housing units, including during a record-breaking heat wave this summer, two petitions filed in Queens court Thursday by the Legal Aid Society allege.
September 17, 2021 https://citylimits.org/2021/09/17/transparency-needed-over-rikers-island-heat-conditions-legal-aid-lawsuit-alleges/Dozens of men splitting a single jug of water, sweating walls in cell units, inmates sucking air from cracks under doors—these are just some of the conditions inmates and advocates have reported from Rikers Island over the past few months.
September 13, 2021 https://citylimits.org/2021/09/13/as-conditions-at-rikers-reach-crisis-levels-concerns-about-heat-persist/‘For decades, criminalized communities have been calling on elected leaders to fund our schools, our parks, our hospitals, our community centers, our access to stable homes and more.’
April 1, 2021 https://citylimits.org/2021/04/01/opinion-in-plan-to-close-rikers-community-reinvestment-is-key-to-repairing-harms-of-incarceration/‘We can indeed come back stronger. But this moment at history requires more: It needs us to be better than our past self. Renewable Rikers is how we improve the soul of our city.’
September 7, 2020 https://citylimits.org/2020/09/07/opinion-want-to-re-think-new-york-city-start-with-rikers-island/Chinese residents and businesses in the neighborhood collected more than 10,000 signatures on a petition against the arrangement, arguing the city should have notified the community of the plan.
July 22, 2020 https://citylimits.org/2020/07/22/hotel-turned-shelter-for-released-rikers-detainees-faces-backlash-in-fresh-meadows/A member of the Board of Correction and Mayor de Blasio’s new task force on punitive segregation is confident the city can develop a new model for managing people behind bars.
July 16, 2020 https://citylimits.org/2020/07/16/jail-reformer-city-can-end-punitive-segregation-close-rikers/‘The closure of the Rikers jails gives us a once-in-a-generation chance to think about the infrastructure that our city needs now and will need in the future, as well as the infrastructure we currently have that harms environmental justice communities.’
November 25, 2019 https://citylimits.org/2019/11/25/opinion-renewable-rikers-is-a-double-win-for-justice/‘The process is slow,’ said one mother, who’s son is being held at the infamous jail. ‘I have sat waiting in court for up to four hours only to be told at the last minute that the session is suspended.’
October 29, 2019 https://citylimits.org/2019/10/29/families-of-rikers-inmates-say-closing-troubled-jail-is-not-enough/A look at City Limits’ coverage 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.
October 17, 2019 https://citylimits.org/2019/10/17/rikers-closure-comes-to-a-final-vote-how-we-got-here/
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