NYN Media Buzz: Dec 28, 2017

JoAnne Page, president and CEO of The Fortune Society, and Elizabeth Gaynes, president and CEO of the The Osborne Association got some words in edgewise as part of a statement that was crowded with elected officials. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that the number of inmates in New York City jails had fallen below 9,000 for the first time in 35 years.

“(It) would not have occurred without advocates and activists – and those directly affected by over-incarceration – raising their voices,” Gaynes said in the press release. Page added, “More than half of Fortune’s staff and much of its leadership has been incarcerated at Rikers. We celebrate this achievement because the life experience of our staff and clients reminds us daily of why reducing the number of people locked up at Rikers matters.”