New York City — Jail and Prison Conditions — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

NYC pushes forward with plans to convert Rikers Island into public space

“New York’s City Planning Commission certified an application on Monday that would rezone Rikers Island as a public space. The application launched the beginning of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for the conversion, which would ban jails from operating on the 400-acre island after December 31, 2026. The application is just one step involved in the controversial plan to replace Rikers with four borough-based jails, which was approved by the City Council in October.“

The Architect’s Newspaper

December 3, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesDecember 5, 2019The Architect's Newspaper, Rikers Island, New York CityComment

‘A stain on New York City’: As lawmakers vote to close Rikers Island, some see history repeating itself

“Today, however, the jail complex — the second-largest in the United States — is nearly synonymous with the tolls of mass incarceration and its disproportionate effects on blacks and Hispanics. Thousands of inmates have been held there for years on end as they await trial, critics say, in facilities that have been rife with abuse, violence and mismanagement for decades. Now, Rikers will probably be closed for nearly the same reason it was opened.“

Washington Post

October 18, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesOctober 18, 2019Washington Post, Rikers Island, New York CityComment

Opinion: How to Close Rikers Island

“Owing in large part to the reforms, New York City officials project that by 2026 the city’s jails will be tasked with housing no more than 3,300 people. With that number in mind, the City Council is expected to vote this month on a plan to close the jail complex at Rikers Island completely by 2026 by sending New Yorkers instead to four jails spread across the five boroughs. The plan would be safer for inmates, safer for guards and more compassionate for the residents of a city that is playing a lead role in ending the era of mass incarceration.“

New York Times

October 13, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesOctober 13, 2019New York Times, Rikers Island, New York CityComment

A Floating Jail Was Supposed to Be Temporary. That Was 27 Years Ago.

“In the years since it opened, the Bain Center has stayed relatively the same. Inside, the walls and ceilings are still colored an off-white gray. The barge sways with the waves. Inmates can exercise on the top floor inside a caged-enclosed recreational area that has views of Rikers Island. From their cells, inmates can look out through tiny portholes.“

New York Times

October 10, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesOctober 10, 2019New York Times, Rikers Island, Bain Center, New York CityComment

Opinion: NYC Should Learn from LA Before Building New Jails

“The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to terminate a plan to replace the Men’s Central Jail facility with a $1.7 billion new jail. In doing so, the Supervisors voted to explore ways to invest the billions in a more sensible and progressive manner – like opting for a community based mental health care facility managed by the Department of Health, instead of a new shiny jail managed by the Department of Corrections.“

City Limits

September 27, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesSeptember 27, 2019City Limits, New York City, Los AngelesComment

Call inmates by name at NYC jails, council bill demands

““This is about treating people like human beings,” said Councilmember Keith Powers (D-Manhattan), the bill’s sponsor. “And this is one amongst many requirements we’re putting forward that will start treating people like human beings and start making these new facilities feel much different than what we’re leaving behind with Rikers Island.”“

The City

September 26, 2019

Jail & Prison ConditionsPhillip ReevesSeptember 26, 2019The City, Rikers Island, New York CityComment

De Blasio says city will shrink planned jails

“De Blasio said the city will consider moving different agencies to Rikers Island after closing the jails. The number of detainees in New York City jails has decreased by roughly 30 percent since 2013, the year de Blasio took office. State and city criminal justice reforms related to bail and prosecution of low-level offenses are expected to further decrease the city’s jail population.“

Queens Daily Eagle

May 22, 2019

Prison DesignPhillip ReevesMay 22, 2019Queens Daily Eagle, Rikers Island, New York CityComment

Over 1K inmate fights went unreported in city jails: DOI

“The city’s jails failed to report more than 1,000 inmate fights over a three-month span thanks to their “unreliable” system of tracking violence, according to a damning report from the Department of Investigation. The seriously flawed reporting process not only hides the violence in city jails from the public, but it also puts inmates and staffers at risk, according to the report.“

New York Post

April 16, 2019

Prison ViolencePhillip ReevesApril 16, 2019New York City, New York PostComment

Do Jails Kill People?

“Reporters have virtually no access to the jails on Rikers Island, but, for many years, Venters had a rare vantage point from which to observe its inner workings. He started working on Rikers in 2008, overseeing health care for thousands of people imprisoned there. On an island known for abuse and violence, Venters became a legendary figure; he often spoke about human rights and was known for his persistent advocacy on behalf of inmates. He left the city’s jail-health service in 2017, and now he has written a crucially important book, “Life and Death in Rikers Island,” in which he examines one of the most overlooked aspects of mass incarceration: the health risks of being locked up.“

The New Yorker

February 20, 2019

Jail & Prison ConditionsPhillip ReevesFebruary 20, 2019The New Yorker, New York City, Rikers IslandComment

No Heat for Days at a Jail in Brooklyn Where Hundreds of Inmates Are Sick and ‘Frantic’ Video

“More than a thousand inmates have been stuck in freezing cells at a federal jail on the Brooklyn waterfront that has had limited power and heat for at least this week, according to federal public defenders and leaders of the union representing the jail’s corrections officers.“

New York Times

February 1, 2019

Jail & Prison ConditionsPhillip ReevesFebruary 1, 2019New York Times, New York CityComment

The risk of replicating Rikers: Inmates with mental illness need help, not jail

"The city’s efforts to close Rikers Island are commendable and long overdue. But as the de Blasio administration’s new blueprint to shutter the jail complex reflects, New York is still struggling, as are cities and states across America, to manage the many people with mental illness who are thrown in jails and prisons that, for all intents and purposes, have become psychiatric hospitals without the services."

New York Daily News

August 16, 2018

Editorial: New York's 'black sites'

"But for both the city and state, there's a larger moral issue: Upstate jails are essentially becoming the city's "black sites," similar to the federal government's practice after the 2001 terror attacks to send prisoners overseas to get around U.S. laws prohibiting torture in interrogation."

Albany Times Union

August 5, 2018

Solitary ConfinementAnthony BradleyAugust 8, 2018Albany Times Union, Cuomo, New York City

Rikers: An American Jail

"While many promising changes have long been underway in New York City—even with its largest jail still years away from its promised closure—could replacing Rikers Island be the catalyst for a more root-and-branch reform of the system, and the opportunity to meaningfully address the harms caused by decades of an over-reliance on incarceration, especially to communities of color?"

Center for Court Innovation

July 31, 2018

How Activists Convinced New York City to Stop Profiting Off Prisoners' Phone Calls

"Last week, the City Council passed a law that will make all calls in and out of city jails free. Once signed into law by the mayor, the legislation will be the first of its kind in the country. The prison phone industry has grown to a $1.2 billion a year business, mostly run by private companies that can charge as much as $1.22 a minute."

The Appeal

July 26, 2018

Access to Outside WorldAnthony BradleyJuly 29, 2018The Appeal, New York City, Cell Phones

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