City, state to transfer women and trans people off Rikers
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Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that over 200 women and trans individuals will be transferred off of Rikers Island in the coming weeks and sent to correctional facilities in Westchester. Photo via Governor Hochul/Flickr
By Jacob Kaye
Around 230 incarcerated women and trans people will soon be transferred off of Rikers Island and sent to correctional facilities upstate, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday.
The women and trans-identifying people, most of whom are being held on pre-trial detention, will be sent to either the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility or the Taconic Correctional Facility, both of which are Westchester County. The transfers will be temporary.
“The situation on Rikers Island is grave and complex, and thus requires bold action from all levels of government to deliver change," Hochul said in a statement. “These actions will further help ease staffing concerns, capacity constraints, and improve safety for several hundred detainees until such time that the city can identify and implement a permanent solution that will bring justice to the situation at Rikers."
Though de Blasio maintained that the city has taken big steps to improve conditions inside the jail complex that has seen a dozen deaths in the past year, he said the governor’s help can’t be matched.
“Our reform efforts on Rikers Island have made encouraging progress, and our borough-based jails plans are moving forward and will fully transform this system - but there is no substitute for immediate support from our State partners at this critical moment in time," de Blasio said.
Former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, who now chairs the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, celebrated the move but called on the city and state to do more to move the women and trans individuals into a permanent safe situation.
“Moving nearly all women and trans individuals out of the chaos and danger of Rikers is yet another sensible step by the Governor to address the crisis at Rikers,” Lippman said. “Every woman’s case should be reviewed immediately to determine whether they can be safely released or their cases resolved. It would also be extremely helpful to authorize the transfer of one of the empty or under-utilized state prisons in New York City to the City, so it can be swiftly adapted and used to ensure no woman or trans person is ever jailed on Rikers Island again.”
The transfers, which are expected to begin during the week of Oct. 18, will occur twice per week, beginning with the transfer of 10 to 20 people.
Because the transfers will take the incarcerated people out of the city, the Department of Correction will offer daily transportation from New York City to the facility for family members and loved ones of the detainees beginning Friday, Oct. 22, the governor said.
The DOC will have pick up locations for visitors in all five boroughs. More details on the visitation trips will be provided in the coming weeks, the governor said.
Attorneys at the Legal Aid Society said the move was dangerous and would separate incarcerated people from their networks in the city. The attorneys threatened legal action should the transfers proceed.
“This decision will create new harms for these women, disrupting their access to due process, their children, families and support networks,” the attorneys said. “It throws into chaos a carefully calibrated web of services which ensures that women are prepared for reentry back into society upon release.”
“Moreover, our transgender and non-binary clients will not have access to the same resources in the custody of DOCCS, and we are extremely concerned that these clients will be mis-housed and generally not cared for,” they added. “This move is rushed, ill-conceived and will surely inflict further trauma on our clients.”
The move by the city and state comes a day after a group of federal lawmakers, many of whom represent Queens, made a trip to the island in crisis.
Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Tom Suozzi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ritchie Torres, toured the jail complex on Tuesday.
In a joint statement, Maloney, Ocasio-Cortez and Torres called Rikers Island a “stain” on New York City.
““The City, State, and federal government must immediately take action to correct the humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island, and provide a safe and clean environment – including ensuring access to medical care for those incarcerated there,” the lawmakers said.
Suozzi encouraged the city not to wait until the eventual closing of the island – slated for 2027 – to make significant improvements to the island.
“There are credible plans that will require some amendments to build new facilities, utilize alternatives to incarceration for appropriate nonviolent offenders, along with other plans to close facilities and reduce the prison population, but no such relocation can take place for at least six years,” Suozzi said. “Rikers’ physical plant must be improved. Staffing must be reassessed and adequate. Management must lay out a clear vision and a plan to implement that vision.”
On Wednesday, Maloney called the transfer announcement an “important step” toward fixing the problems on Rikers.
“As I saw yesterday, and as advocates have been reporting for far too long, the situation on Rikers Island is untenable and we need bold action to make the facility safer for all those incarcerated there, the corrections officers, and support staff,” she said. “I welcome this announcement from the city and state, a move that will help secure the safety of some of the most vulnerable populations currently housed at Rikers.”
