CAMPAIGN TO CLOSE RIKERS ISSUES ROADMAP FOR ADVANCING PLAN TO CLOSE RIKERS ISLAND

In response to the humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island which has further deteriorated this year, and the election of a new mayor and largely new City Council who take office in January, the Campaign to Close Rikers has developed a brief guide for strengthening and advancing the plan to close Rikers Island so that New York City’s elected leaders can finish the job of shuttering the last penal colony in the United States and work toward achieving a more equitable and functional city. The plan focuses around the key directives of the plan: 1) closure of Rikers Island and the other decrepit city jails, 2) reducing incarceration in New York City by at least 40%, 3) defending the rights of incarcerated people, and 4) divesting from incarceration and reinvesting into meeting the needs of communities that have long been neglected. 

Darren Mack, Co-Director at Freedom Agenda (which spearheads the campaign), himself a survivor of Rikers Island, issued the following statement: 

“The continuing crisis at Rikers Island has shown us all that it’s time not just to close Rikers, but to dismantle the entrenched policies, bureaucracy, and abuse that have led us to this. We will continue listening to our community of people most directly impacted by these abuses in thinking through and pushing for the most effective path to ending Rikers Island while simultaneous building a better way moving forward.” 

The full point-by-point plan to close Rikers can be found here.

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