SURVIVORS OF RIKERS, DIRECTLY IMPACTED FAMILIES, AND ALLIES RALLY BEFORE CITY COUNCIL BUDGET MEETING TO DEMAND A BUDGET THAT SUPPORTS CLOSING RIKERS
Today, before the City Council budget hearing on criminal justice at the Tweed Courthouse, members of the Campaign to Close Rikers gathered outside of the venue to call on Council Members and the Mayor to deliver on a budget that reflects the legal and moral obligation to close Rikers Island. Participants included people previously incarcerated at Rikers, family members of those currently incarcerated at Rikers, elected officials, organizations providing services to people held at and and returning from Rikers, faith leaders, and other allies.
In her State of the City address on March 8, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams declared that the Council "will be a focused change-agent for the solutions and investments needed to make us safer and finally close Rikers." Mayor Eric Adams recently proposed a budget that slashes social services while increasing funding for DOC - a budget that will undermine the health and safety of our communities. The Department of Correction’s budget is set to grow by $35 million, and is one of the few agencies to which vacancy reductions have not been applied. The mayor’s administration also revealed an initial contract for construction of the Brooklyn borough-based jail that would run two years past the 2027 closure date for Rikers. Elected officials voiced strong and unified displeasure this week, culminating in their press conference demanding the Mayor to act immediately to decarcerate and close Rikers by 2027 as mandated by law.
“As the Chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice in New York City, I am committed to ensuring that essential programs for restorative justice, alternatives to incarceration, mental health, substance use treatment, and community programs are fully funded. The past year marked the deadliest in a decade for our jail system, with 19 fatalities reported. Alongside Speaker Adams and my Council colleagues, we will work to deliver on our promises and invest in the well-being and future of our communities in this year’s budget. Our commitment goes beyond financial resources; it's about building a more just and equitable society for all New Yorkers,” said Council Member Carlina Rivera.
“Close to 98% of people detained on Rikers Island are there in pretrial detention. They are incarcerated simply because they cannot afford bail. Rikers is more than a jail, it's a modern day poor house,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “Ensuring we don’t send more of our neighbors to Rikers starts with a budget that moves billions from the bloated and corrupt Department of Corrections into housing, education, and good union jobs. As Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus, I’m focused this year on building a power bloc of Council Members to ensure we make historic investments in care, not cages.”
“For too many New Yorkers never convicted of a crime, Rikers Island has become a death sentence. To finally close Rikers for good by 2027, the Adams administration must focus on safely reducing incarceration and reinvesting in our communities,” said Council Member Lincoln Restler.
Freedom Agenda Co-Director Darren Mack said, “Community investment is community safety. Mayor Eric Adams has talked about investing in upstream solutions, but recently proposed a budget that slashes social services while adding $35.5 million for DOC. Cutting funds to housing, health, education and more while funneling people into Rikers will only undermine the health and safety of our communities. The safest communities are the ones with most resources, not the most incarceration. To this end, this year’s budget must deliver on funding for mental health treatment, treatment for people with substance use challenges, justice impacted supportive housing, alternatives to incarceration, and fully fund the recommendations of the Commission on Reinvestment and the Closure of Rikers.”
Reverend Wendy Calderon-Payne, Executive Director for Urban Youth Alliance (BronxConnect) said “Community safety has shown itself to be bigger than a jail issue. It is a community issue. New York already has the framework in place to reduce recidivism and stem gun violence. The structure for this solution can be found by working alongside the organizations that have made it their life mission to meet justice system and justice -involved people where they are, guiding them in productive directions and offering real life solutions. BronxConnect has seen 97% of successful graduates within our youth felony program stay conviction free for 3 years. Rikers in contrast has a marred history of mismanagement, death and deterioration. It’s time to focus the enormous Rikers budget on programs that present effective alternatives.”
Tracie Gardner, Senior Vice President of Policy Advocacy with the Legal Action Center said, "While opponents of decarceration continually point to alleged increases in crime in our City, the NYPD's overtime budget is at a record-high of 100 million dollars - what then are New Yorkers' tax dollars actually paying for to make our City safer? Never before have we funded community-based approaches to keep people safe and healthy as robustly as carceral and law enforcement responses - how much clearer can it be that this shift is critical? Not only is it immoral that we are continuing to send people to the horror of Rikers rather than connecting them to care in the community - and further that we trap people there pre-trial because they can't afford bail - it is an enormous drain on resources. We can and must move immediately to prioritize a health-first, community-based approach as recommended by the Commission on Community Reinvestment, which will better serve our City at large rather than continuing to lock people away and shamefully perpetuate the disastrous cycle of mass incarceration, poor health, poverty, and recidivism."
"The City must divest from the Department of Corrections and the inhumane nightmare that is Rikers, and invest instead in the community supports and services that create true safety. At CASES, we know that people who are awaiting trial will return to court with the help of supervised release. But instead of increasing funding for this proven solution, we had our funding cut while the Corrections budget remains bloated. Thousands of New Yorkers in need of mental health care are languishing on Rikers, with DOC failing to bring people to appointments and provide access to medication. We can serve these individuals in the community, with the holistic mental health supports they need to increase wellbeing, obtain housing and avoid rearrest. The City Council and the Mayor must prioritize decarceration and the closure of Rikers by 2027, while investing in the robust community programs that keep New Yorkers safe and healthy," said Jonathan Mclean, President & CEO, CASES.
Kandra Clark, VP of Policy & Strategy with Exodus Transitional Community said “Today, we are standing in solidarity to fight for budget justice; to fight for a common sense approach that will not only save human lives but save our City billions of dollars! We have heard from our leaders in City Council that we will follow the law to close Rikers on the August 2027 timeline. We need that same commitment from the Mayor’s Office. Furthermore, we need a budget that invests in community safety. We must fund solutions to scale, such as alternatives-to-incarceration - programming that costs a mere fraction of what it costs to detain someone on Rikers Island annually - approximately $10-$20,000 per person per year versus $550,000! And supportive housing, which would save the City approximately $1.2 billion annually to provide supportive housing to the 2,500 people detained on Rikers that qualify for this service. We have an opportunity to reach community safety. All we need is the political will to allocate funding to the root causes of incarceration!”
"While the human toll of keeping Rikers open is one we cannot accept, we can't afford the financial cost either. The Commissioner's projected jail population of 7,000 people and the current annual cost per bed of over $556,000 predict a yearly total of $3.89 billion, which will exceed the cost of the borough jails in under three years. At the current price tag, neither corrections officers nor the people in custody are safe and jail buildings continue to crumble. We call on the Mayor to act with a comprehensive response appropriate to this emergency, prioritizing decarceration, the closure of Rikers, and a modern system close to courts and families that invests in all who work in, live in, and visit our jails. We also call on the City Council to invest in community-based solutions and alternatives to incarceration, which yield cost-effective outcomes that promote healing, accountability, and public safety," said Archana Jayaram, president and CEO of Osborne Association.
Lauren Velez, Associate Director NY Metro Team, Corporation for Supportive Housing, “It’s unacceptable for the city of New York to continue to hemorrhage money and resources into a place as dangerous and inhumane as Rikers- especially considering that we have alternative solutions, like supportive housing, on the table. Providing people with safe, affordable homes and community connections reduces recidivism and allows people to heal and move on. Continuing to allow people to languish in cycles of crisis and incarceration is not only far more expensive, but brings harm to communities all over the city. CSH urges city council and Mayor Adams to stay on course to close Rikers and invest in our communities in ways that are proven to increase public safety and treat people like people.”
“It is unconscionable for New York City to spend $2.7 billion on incarceration while not funding programs and services that would reduce the jail population and provide long-term stability for individuals and communities. NYC jails are not designed to provide quality healthcare, but more than 3000 people are relegated to receive their mental health treatment there. And, a third of them are diagnosed with serious mental illness,” said Jennifer J. Parish, Director of Criminal Justice Advocacy, Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project. “The city could provide supportive housing and wrap around services to address this population’s needs, but instead in the name of ‘safety,’ the city continues to pour money into the failed system of mass incarceration and a department that cannot keep people in its custody safe. The Council must stand up against this unjust budget and demand that the city reinvest in a true public safety response that provides for the needs of New Yorkers.”
"The Fortune Society calls upon the City to adhere to the 2027 deadline to open the borough-based jails and close Rikers Island, which is a stain on our City. Rikers Island diminishes the humanity of everyone – people detained, people who work there and the families who visit. Closing Rikers Island is a racial justice issue – 90% of the people detained are Black or Hispanic; and the majority of the Officers are Black or Hispanic. We have a moral obligation to ensure the City ends the generational harm caused by Rikers island by expediting its closure,” said Stanley Richards, Deputy CEO of The Fortune Society. “There is no reason to delay the closure of Rikers Island when the need for change is so clear and well-documented, but also quite literally a matter of life and death. The Fortune Society has spent 56 years working with people impacted by the criminal legal system to rebuild their lives, and over 20 years providing supportive and affordable housing. We know that alternative to incarceration programs, reentry services, and supportive housing that includes robust services - particularly for people with serious mental illness - make a profound difference in people's lives. We have seen the overall reduction of incarceration in NYC while also witnessing increased community safety documented by three decades of reductions in jail admissions. NYC did it pre pandemic over multiple administrations and with the leadership from this administration, we can do it again and finally end mass incarceration in NYC."
“During the vote to CLOSE rikers in 2019, I recall testifying before the City Council about a statistic that has now become even scarier. The jail population of individuals with mental health concerns was estimated to be at least 40%. In 2023, daily, that number has now climbed above 50%. It’s a staggering 80%, when you assess the women. Can you imagine what a community would look like with half of its members unable to access adequate healthcare, mental health care, and spiritual care?” said Chaplain Dr. Victoria A. Phillips, Founder and CEO of Visionary V Ministries. “I previously proposed to this council that the Department of Correction, be given more funds to hire additional correction officers due to them being forced to work 3 tours. However, DOC administration only mismanaged those resources. Budget allocation for the Board of Correction (BOC) is insufficient, even though they should be given more resources to contribute to the safety of incarcerated individuals. Let us never forget, 19 heartbeats stopped in DOC custody, throughout 2022. I believe the BOC should be granted greater funds to monitor the operations of the Department of Correction. At this moment, the City Council, now can take immediate action and begin the budget making procedure by cutting down the budget for New York City Department of Correction. The majority of New Yorkers want genuine, consistent, and effective actions to be taken. We need leaders who will address the needs of those who are suffering. City Council must exercise their moral compass and legal obligation to all constituents.”
“The NYC Department of Corrections (DOC) has one of the highest budgets in the country, and yet, people in NYC DOC custody are subjected to some of the worst jail conditions in the nation,” said President and CEO, Carmen Perez-Jordan, at The Gathering for Justice. “Even after the City Council committed to closing Rikers in 2019, conditions on Rikers continued to deteriorate and violence continued to rise. We must stop funneling taxpayer dollars into this outrageously damaged department. There is less than four years until NYC is required to close the jails on Rikers island. We implore the City Council to reduce the DOC’s budget and provide funding for community investments. It is time to divest funds used for punitive measures and re-distribute them to communities that need it the most – we must act now.”
“At Youth Justice Network, while each of our young participants is unique, all have experienced early and constant exposure to community violence, over-policing, racial bias and discrimination, and involvement in the child welfare and justice systems. The proposed $35.5 million increase to the Department of Corrections’ budget will not make our youth members safer. Instead, it will exact permanent punishment on young people, their families, and their communities,” said Chris Pahigan, Executive Director of the Youth Justice Network said. “The City is rich in proven, effective, programs and neighborhood-based resources to promote public safety – everyone’s public safety. Allocating millions of dollars to institutionalize young people who often act out of fear for their own safety guarantees a return to the upward trend in mass incarceration. We call on legislators and policy leaders to act with intention, courage and the will to shut Rikers permanently. The right pathway may be challenging, but it is clear and just: the FY24 budget needs to prioritize funding for supportive housing for those impacted by the justice system, fund creative alternatives to detention, incarceration, reentry services, and mental health treatment; and ensure that the recommendations of the Commission on Reinvestment and the Closure of Rikers are funded completely. Public safety depends on it.”
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