Is the uptick in knife violence on the streets a reflection of the increase in conflict inside the city’s jails?
April 13, 2016 https://citylimits.org/2016/04/13/cityviews-is-rikers-island-exporting-knife-violence/Count Rev. Al Sharpton with Mayor de Blasio among the skeptics about the notion of closing Rikers Island.
February 23, 2016 https://citylimits.org/2016/02/23/sharpton-seabrook-bronx-da-weigh-in-on-closing-rikers/Some want Rikers to close altogether. The mayor says that’s not a realistic goal. But a Manhattan Assemblyman says the de Blasio administration should at least move pre-trail detainees off the island.
February 19, 2016 https://citylimits.org/2016/02/19/cityviewsdem-lawmakers-proposes-major-rikers-change/What’s really behind the push to close Rikers—whether it’s moral clarity or fiscal concern—will determine whether mothballing the island actually makes New York a more humane place.
February 16, 2016 https://citylimits.org/2016/02/16/cityviewsshut-down-rikers-and-then-what/Melissa Mark-Viverito is launching a commission to look at alternatives. The rationale for—and complexities in—shuttering the island of jails was the focus of a November City & State/City Limits series.
February 12, 2016 https://citylimits.org/2016/02/12/is-council-speaker-opening-the-door-to-closing-rikers/Two women allege they were subjected to regular sexual abuse on the island. Naming them would punish the women for coming forward with complaints that have spurred a broader discussion about rape, power and incarceration.
February 8, 2016 https://citylimits.org/2016/02/08/cityviewsnyc-must-allow-rikers-inmates-alleging-sex-abuse-to-remain-anonymous/“Closing Rikers Island is a great idea – but we must have fully operational alternatives in place first, not just some half-baked notions that are destined to fail.”
January 13, 2016 https://citylimits.org/2016/01/13/op-ed-city-needs-a-real-plan-to-close-rikers-lest-one-failure-replace-another/Read reports, get background, learn more.
November 25, 2015 https://citylimits.org/2015/11/25/researching-rikers-links-and-resources/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.
November 25, 2015 https://citylimits.org/2015/11/25/the-perils-and-potential-of-closing-rikers-island/The jury is still out on whether reforms – segregating the most violent inmates, a crackdown on smuggling, faster use-of-force investigations – will be effective.
November 25, 2015 https://citylimits.org/2015/11/25/can-nyc-reform-rikers-island-without-replacing-it/
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