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City Council Takes Step To Ban Jails From Rikers Island By 2026
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Oct 10, 2019
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Oct 10, 2019
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Members of the City Council’s Land Use Committee voted Thursday to advance a measure that would prohibit Rikers Island from housing incarcerated individuals after 2026, with the goal of ensuring that lawmakers can't wriggle out of their stated commitment to close the notorious facility in the coming years.
The resolution authorizes lawmakers to request a remapping from the Department of City Planning explicitly barring the site from being used for incarceration. It comes ahead of a City Council vote next week on Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposal to shutter Rikers Island and build four new borough-based jails. The plan has faced pushback from advocates, in part because it did not guarantee that Rikers would be decommissioned.
"Up to this point there’s been nothing as part of this application that has assured us and the public that Rikers Island will actually close," said Councilmember Stephen Levin. "That’s what this resolution is going to do."
The vote on the resolution was announced late Thursday, and first reported by NY1. Some councilmembers, like Queens representative Barry Grodenchik, said they did not have sufficient time to understand the implications of the proposal. Still the motion passed 11-2, with two members abstaining.
In addition to needing approval from the City Planning Commission, the proposal to change the city map will need to go through a lengthy Uniform Land Use Review Procedure [ULURP], before coming back to the City Council for a final vote.
Mayor Bill de Blasio voiced support for the measure on Wednesday evening, as did Council Speaker Corey Johnson. The proposal should signal that the commitment to closing Rikers is "iron clad," the mayor said, adding: "Mass incarceration did not begin in New York City, but it will end here.”
Some advocates feel lawmakers are giving themselves undue credit for passing what amounts to little more than an application request. "What the Land Use Committee voted on today is not binding," said M.J. Williams, an attorney and member of the No New Jails campaign. "Councilmembers voted to file an application to change use on Rikers that if it is approved would be acted on when none of them are in office."
If the city were to renege on its commitment in the future, it's unclear who would actually be in a position to enforce today's action, advocates said. "What power and resources does the Land Use Committee have to work with other agencies and enforce these laws?" wondered Sylvia Morse, an urban planner and supporter of No New Jails. "What oversight authority will [the Council] have over the Department of Corrections' implementation of the plan and what powers do they have if they are not on the same page?"
It also remains unclear what will become of the 400-acre island, assuming it is eventually decommissioned as a jail site. The resolution notes that it should be established as a public place, but does not offer additional specifics. Advocates have called for the property to serve communities most impacted by mass incarceration.
Next week's vote on the jails plan is expected to be contentious, and the mayor is said to still be working on convincing some Bronx representatives to support a brand new jail in the borough. The other three proposed facilities—in Downtown Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan, and Kew Gardens, Queens—would be built on to former or existing detention sites.
The city has thus far released limited information about the new jails. A package of City Council bills introduced last week aims to establish minimum standards for the jails, mandating natural light, expanded recreation time, and visitation rights, among other reforms.
Those measures will likely be brought to a vote next Thursday, alongside the city’s larger jail construction plan.
Tagged
Rikers Island
rikers
City Council
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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