In 2015, City Limits published the most comprehensive look to date at the political and policy dimensions of closing Rikers Island. Read those stories and our continuing coverage below.
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.
‘This is the right time for the city to also make a bold commitment to support people with serious and persistent mental and behavioral health needs, in ways that will prevent contact (or further contact) with law enforcement at every possible juncture.’
‘The plan that is in progress right now is the right plan, it’s one that is viable, it’s moving.’
‘I’m reminded the cells on Rikers are so hot — that the walls sweat. There was no air. I had to lay on the floor naked, to suck a little bit of air from a slit on the floor, just to breathe.’
The division between people who support the de Blasio administration plan to site a new jail in the Bronx to facilitate the closing of Rikers and those who don’t is about a lot more than the location.