SURVIVORS OF RIKERS, DIRECTLY IMPACTED FAMILIES, AND ALLIES RALLY BEFORE HEARING ON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION BUDGET TO DEMAND INVESTMENTS THAT SUPPORT CLOSING RIKERS
As the City Council Criminal Justice Committee prepared to convene their executive budget hearing, members of the Campaign to Close Rikers gathered on the steps of City Hall to call on City Council and Mayor Adams to deliver a budget that supports the closure of Rikers by moving resources from the bloated Department of Correction to crucial community needs like supportive housing, community-based treatment, and alternatives to incarceration. Participants included people previously incarcerated at Rikers and impacted family members, organizations providing services to people held at and returning from Rikers, elected officials, faith leaders, and other allies.
While Mayor Adams has expressed that the City should be expanding upstream community investments, he has proposed a budget driven by a stubborn refusal to fund supportive housing and community-based mental health treatment to scale. His executive budget proposal also includes cuts to evidence-based alternative to incarceration (ATI) programs and reentry supports, despite the City’s obligation to reduce incarceration in alignment with the plan to close Rikers. Mayor Adams has simultaneously proposed spending $2.6 billion on jail operations in FY2025, including preserving hundreds of vacant positions for uniform DOC staff. The Mayor’s refusal to begin the process of rightsizing the department in preparation for the smaller borough-based jails is yet another indication of his undermining of the closure plan, along with announcements of borough based jail contracts that do not align with the 2027 closure date for the borough jails.
"We need a budget that reflects a real commitment to safely closing Rikers by the 2027 legal deadline. We need investments in proven strategies for decarceration at Rikers, including alternatives to incarceration, reentry programs, preventative social services, and support for individuals with mental health issues. We must stop funneling more people into a broken system that leaves them worse off than when they enter. For the safety of everyone at Rikers and in our communities, we cannot wait any longer to act on evidence-backed solutions," said Council Member Sandy Nurse, Chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice.
"While we have heard the Mayor talk about investing upstream to close the pipelines that feed Rikers, we have consistently seen budget proposals from his administration that would do the opposite. Instead of speculating about how the jail population might increase if nothing changes, this is the time to change something,” said Darren Mack, Co-Director of Freedom Agenda. This year's budget must reign in DOC’s reckless spending; restore senseless cuts to alternatives to incarceration and reentry services and expand these proven interventions; and make serious strides toward scaling up the mental health resources that every New Yorker knows we desperately need. It is immoral and illogical to allow our neighbors to deal with long waiting lists for supportive programs but always have space available for them to endure abuse on Rikers. It is time to fund the things that work, and get Rikers closed."
“The Mayor's proposed DOC budget is morally reprehensible when we have a housing crisis in NYC and youth remain unhoused with inadequate city resources. Youth need housing not incarceration. LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately criminalized for surviving. If we don't prioritize housing our youth, and providing them with the tools they need for successful futures, it will have long term individual and social impacts on NYC,” said Nadia Swanson, Director of Technical Assistance and Advocacy, The Ali Forney Center.
“Funding supportive housing and community-based mental health services has been proven to be far less expensive than detaining a woman on Rikers Island. We need communities, not cages, Alternatives to detention, not cages, and stable and affordable housing, not cages,” said Nikki Grant, PhD, LCSW, Vice President, Justice Initiatives & Advocacy, HousingPlus.
Reverend Wendy Calderón- Payne, Executive Director, 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 violence-involved people where they are, guiding them in productive directions and offering real life solutions. Continued cuts to necessary programming is counterproductive to the goal of a safer New York. The call is clear, our city needs to prioritize mental health, housing and alternatives to incarceration.”
“What we spend to incarcerate or detain one person annually is over $500,000,” said Kandra Clark, Vice President of Policy & Strategy, Exodus Transitional Community. “The average cost for an alternative-to-incarceration program is only approximately $8,700. So we could serve 63 people through alternatives to incarceration for every one person that is detained or incarcerated, and we get much better outcomes. So there’s no reason that these alternative-to-incarceration programs should not be invested in. We must restore the funds to AT’s and reentry in the community, and we are demanding that from Mayor Adams.”
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