IN HONOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK, ADVOCATES STAGE GUERRILLA PROJECTIONS AT MULTIPLE SITES TO DEMAND MAYOR ADAMS ACT NOW TO ADVANCE THE CLOSURE OF THE RIKERS JAILS
This week at multiple locations, members of the Campaign to Close Rikers, including people directly impacted by the injustice and horrors of Rikers Island, projected a second series of messages at strategic locations to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis still happening there. These messages included:
Displaying the names of the 18 people who lost their lives in DOC custody this year
Providing statistics demonstrating ways in which racism, poverty, and criminalization of mental illness drive incarceration in NYC jails
Demanding Mayor Adams act now to close Rikers
With eighteen lives lost this year in (or immediately after being released from) DOC custody, the soaring death rate has now exceeded the 16 deaths in city jails last year, and brings the total to 34 deaths in the past 22 months. Furthermore, the latest Nunez Federal Monitor’s report states the urgent need to immediately decarcerate: “A comparable level of haste [to that seen at the onset of COVID-19] is required to limit exposure to and relieve pressure on the jails.” The previous Nunez Federal Monitor and another class action lawsuit continue to show that people in the jails are not being provided with basic services, including medical care, and continue to be exposed to excessive use of force by guards.
As a candidate, Mayor Adams spoke about wanting to “close the pipeline that feeds Rikers,” but has not published a plan to do so. Meanwhile, data shows that over half of the people detained in city jails have a mental health diagnosis, and over 1,000 have a serious mental illness.
###