AS A HANDSHAKE BUDGET AGREEMENT IS ANNOUNCED, THE CAMPAIGN TO CLOSE RIKERS PRAISES CITY COUNCIL’S WORK TO WIN INVESTMENTS IN PROVEN SOLUTIONS FOR HEALTH & SAFETY, IN SPITE OF THE MAYOR
After months of negotiations, the New York City Council and the Mayor announced an agreement yesterday on the 2024-2025 City Budget. The adopted budget restores cuts to the Board of Correction and to alternatives to incarceration and reentry programs, adds $6.4M to expand and stabilize Justice Involved Supportive Housing, and increases funding for mental health clubhouses. In response, the Campaign to Close Rikers released the following statement:
“The Mayor says over and over again that he cares about public safety, that he wants to keep people with mental health needs out of Rikers, and that he will follow the law. But over and over again, his actions don’t match his words. While allowing the Department of Correction’s budget bloat to continue unabated, the Adams administration pursued senseless cuts to Alternative to Incarceration and Reentry programs, vital services that are proven to strengthen public safety and reduce incarceration. He stubbornly refused to scale up funding for supportive housing that meets the needs of New Yorkers who are currently cycling between jails and shelters. And at a moment when New York City jails continue to violate the basic human rights of people in their custody, he proposed cuts to the Board of Correction’s already-strained oversight capacity.
We are grateful that the City Council responded to the tireless organizing of survivors of Rikers, impacted families, and our broad-based coalition. Because of their efforts, ATI and re-entry providers will continue their highly effective programs, and we will be able to create 380 more units of Justice Involved Supportive Housing to break the jail to shelter cycle. The safest communities are the ones with the most resources, not the most incarceration, and we thank the City Council for insisting on a budget that delivers real solutions for community health and safety.
The investments the Council achieved are a downpayment on the City’s legal and moral obligation to shrink the jail population and close Rikers - and there is much more work to do. We’ll continue organizing for a city that invests in care over criminalization, where the billions wasted on DOC’s abuse and corruption are reinvested in the communities that mass incarceration has stolen so much from.”
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