Saturday, April 1, 2017

Bill's closing Rikers


From Politico:

Just days before a special commission was set to release a report calling for the closure of Rikers Island, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday he supports a ten-year timeline to shutter the troubled jail.

“This is the first time in 85 years, since Rikers Island opened in 1932, that the official policy of the city of New York will be to end our efforts on Rikers Island and close the jails there,” de Blasio said flanked by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte and director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, Elizabeth Glazer.

The press conference, which was not initially listed on the mayor's public schedule, came nearly a year after City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for the complete closure of the facility.

De Blasio said his own evolution on the idea — which he had previously dismissed as a "noble" but impractical undertaking — came after weeks of conversations between he and Mark-Viverito, describing a consensus that formed around the general idea that the facility could be closed after it reaches 5,000 inmates. The first step would be reducing the inmate population to 7,000 as the city figures out where to house the inmate population would be displaced.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only reason this is being done is so that they can hand developers a huge chunk of land to build on.

Anonymous said...

Isn't this sorta like taking the trash cans out of the subway in the hopes that people would hold on to their garbage and dispose of it "Elsewhere"?

That worked out pretty well didn't it?!

This turd (BDB in case there was any doubt as to who I was referring to) Will be re-elected wanna bet?

R185 said...

Closing Rikers is an overly simplified answer to a complex problem. Need violence reduction programs for inmates and CO's, and upgraded facilities. Changing the location won't necessarily change anything. Plus, now the fight begins over new sites.

Anonymous said...

And it's gonna be turned into a park, right?

Anonymous said...

I will start taking bets on how many of the new jail sites will be in black neighborhoods.

Anonymous said...

I don't get why we are supposed to think this is a good thing. So they house criminals in our own neighborhoods? This is another one of deBozos PR stunts in an election year. I hate him with such incredible passion!!!!! He shows us his fudged crime rates, just like he thinks the schools are doing great, then based on that he says we will be able to close Rikers in 10 years, yeah ok! Go away loser!!! Go raise the cool mil you need to defend your shady ass and let someone COPETENT run this great city.

Anonymous said...

Just like Obama was going to close Guantanamo. Neither one will close in my lifetime.

JQ LLC said...



According to the fair use stipulations regarding De Faustio's current homeless shelter plan, naturally these new jails should be in affluent areas, preferably populated by enlightened liberal thinkers like our mayor and speaker, and every celebrity from the fields of entertainment, sports and punditry. More naturally, and to cut the costs certain to accrue from meaningless studies and contracts to prison complex developers, why not reign in all those who have took advantage of generous rezoning, upzoning and deed lifting from our caring mayor with their massive CONY PAC donations and have them use whatever condos they are currently having trouble selling and whatever developments that are currently in progress, say the Domino Sugar buildings by Two Trees or Ratnerland Greenland Properties by Atlantic Yards Pacific Park and devote some of the higher floors and re-purpose them as prison cells.

More at https://impunitycity.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

While Bloomberg also wanted to close Rikers for development, I have no doubts that Billy Boy is banking on this for reelection. He's catering to the lowest common denominator who will only hear "Rikers is closing" and will be doing a dance of joy because their sweet, innocent, gentle giant bastard children will, in their ignorant minds, be let out of jail for free. Guarantee it.

Anonymous said...

Development - no doubt. Everything he does is predicated on that.

Prisons will not be in the elite communities, nor the 'riffraff' that visits the jails be in his community or the places where the developers who are benefiting from this live.

To answer this, get a map showing the locations of the top 50 developers - offices, homes, clubs. Now push for the new jails in those areas.

Anonymous said...

Alas, I thought that former autocrat (and terminal anarchist/predator/hustler) Mike Bloomberg was his OWN special interest——until 'Tall & Stupid' de Assio came along, that is!

So, why don't citizens/shareholders demand the best leaders to finally run New York City? Because unions, money, lobbyists, special interests and the ALWAYS toxic, corporate fascist owned media——not resumes——determine who will be mayor (and state senator, and assemblyman, and councilman, and congressman and district leader, and so on and so on...)!

But, before this one term, nutless wonder shutters Riker's, We, the People should ensure that Mayor Shithead be remanded to immediate lockup HIMSELF in that facility, so that when and if it closes, then we can transfer him to the ironically named 'Clinton Correctional Facility, conveniently located in upstate New York——only miles away from de Assio's pal, 'Crooked, Corporate $hitlary's' carpetbagging, Chappaqua compound headquarters, where she will hopefully be joining him for a permanent stay until thy BOTH rot to toxic ash!

Anonymous said...

Viverito said Rikers should go since is a symbol of injustice.
She said that with a straigth face and the ground did not open underneath her.
I guess she means murderers, rapists and other criminals should be allowed to roam free.

Anonymous said...

This is the silver dagger in both their political careers. Let's put the jails right next to Gracie Mansion, who cares if it takes away from a Park? and next to DeBlaz's Brooklyn house. and next door? A homeless shelter.

Anonymous said...

In response to Trump he's gonna put all the criminal on ankle lowjack house arrest and make it a sanctuary shelter.
NYC is finished !!

Anonymous said...

Say good bye to your neighborhood parks...the city will use them to build jails. Your hotels are used as shelters and oh wait where will the garbage transfer stations go?
The overcrowding and overdevelopment here is horrible.
Ask yourself where will they house as MMV says our neighbors and our family members?
She dislike likes the not in my back yard mentality but actually my backyard is way to small for this. Really
In ten years many things can happen and I will sit and see how this develops.

Anonymous said...

Make a deal with the Feds to send them to Gitmo!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! Not only will they be opening up homeless shelters in the middle of our neighborhoods, they'll be opening up prisons too! Kiss your property values goodbye!

On the plus side, this will bring gentrification to a screeching halt, and make buying a house or renting an apartment affordable again. You just won't want to live there.

Anonymous said...

Preparing the way for "luxury" housing in its place.
And where does Dih Blasio plan on moving prisoners to local prisons in various neighborhoods?
NOT IN MY FUCKING BACK YARD!
How about Park Slope, you big dope?

Anonymous said...

Just read that Public Advocate Letitia James wants Rikers Island renamed for Bronx teen Kalief Browder !

Anonymous said...

What do these 2 hyper bleeding-heart Liberals know about closing prisons? Do they want to build a country club for prisoners too? Bring this to a referendum and let the voters decide!

Anonymous said...

Why not make the whole island a homeless shelter since that is what NYC is catering to lately.

JQ LLC said...

Mayor Big Slow's tale of 2 cities as mutated into tale of 2 services for those struggling to afford and those disenfranchised from unaffordability, shelters and prisons.

90 shelters and a jail for each borough in 10 years, the latter is the amount we know so far.

And this motherfucker is virtually running unopposed?

Oh, and the judge that spearheaded the study on the Rikers shutdown, John Lippman. Childhood friend of Sheldon Silver and was a person of interest of his indicted buddy's criminal patronage trial.

https://impunitycity.wordpress.com/2017/04/02/about-judge-johnathon-lippman-the-alpha-guy-who-initiated-the-unrealistic-gradual-shutdown-of-rikers-island/