Understanding New York City’s Proposal to Close Rikers and Open New Jails

In early August, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city would be moving forward on a proposal to instate four new jails — including the reopening of an already existing facility in Queens — throughout the boroughs as part of a longterm goal of closing Rikers Island for good.

The plan is the work of an independent commission known as the Independent Commission of New York, a group of experts, policymakers, and advocates from a variety of backgrounds, including law enforcement, academia, business, and the judiciary. Experts who previously spent time behind bars were also consulted.

The commission then forwarded that proposal to the city, which presented it to the public. The moment the city took ownership of the plan is also when public concerns started rolling in.

Commission members told ThinkProgress the backlash was understandable.

“The protest and the rejections of building the jails is not necessarily about the jails,” said Stanley Richards, “it’s about the community’s experiences of engaging with the city or engaging with developers and how those relationships have soured the community on anything that would be good for the community or good for the community members.”