As the three-year countdown to the closure of the jails on Rikers Island begins this week, major questions remain about whether or not the city will – or even can – meet the August 2027 deadline to shutter the notorious complex.
Read MoreQueens’ borough-based jail set to be built in Kew Gardens will cost taxpayers at least $4 billion and may be completed four years after the city’s legally-mandated deadline to close Rikers Island, city records show.
Read MoreRepeating what top members of his administration have begun to suggest in recent weeks, Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday that his administration has little to no shot of building four borough-based jails by the time Rikers Island is legally-mandated to shutter as a jail complex in 2027.
Read MoreMayor Eric Adams doubled down on his opposition to the plan to close Rikers Island on Tuesday and called on the City Council to craft a new proposal to close the city’s jail complex where over two dozen people have died since the mayor took office last year.
Read MoreThe Adams administration has yet to complete a single transfer of land on Rikers Island, a crucial part of the city’s plan to turn the jail complex into a renewable energy hub by 2027.
Read MoreBrooklyn’s borough-based jail facility, one of four facilities expected to replace Rikers Island before the end of the decade, will be larger than originally anticipated, the city revealed this week.
Read MoreRikers Island’s population is growing larger when it should be getting smaller. DOC Commissioner Louis Molina said the blame lies with the state court system during a Board of Correction meeting this week.
Read MoreA group of city councilmembers introduced Tuesday a plan to lower Rikers Island’s population over the next several years ahead of its legally mandated closure in 2027.
Read More“The inconsistent statements from the administration over the past few days have unacceptably created questions where there should be no questions,” the speaker said. “Rikers must close by 2027 and we cannot allow it to continue undermining public safety issues across our city.”
Read MoreWill the city be able to close Rikers Island by 2027? Likely not, if a newly proposed contract to build the first of the city’s upcoming four borough-based jails is approved as is.
Read MoreThe proposal comes amid growing pressure from progressive opponents of the plan, which would create a new 1,150-bed jail in every borough but Staten Island.
Read MoreWhere do New York City Council members stand on the jail plan?
Read MoreThe hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5.
Read MoreThe race for Manhattan District Attorney is nearly two years away, but the field to challenge current DA Cyrus Vance Jr. in June 2021 is already beginning to emerge.
Read MoreThe city’s borough-based jail proposal would construct a 1,500-bed jail 126-02 82nd Ave, on the former site of the Queens House of Detention.
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