How Closing a Jail Could Make New York City Stronger
“Named after a 19th-century municipal officer notorious for detaining ‘fugitive slaves,’ the 413-acre complex has, since 1932, been witness to the most brutal aspects of New York’s criminal-justice system, from the reign of gangland corruption in the 1930s to the ‘zero tolerance’ policing of the 1990s. Today, the idea of closing Rikers brings with it both painful historical memories and great potential for urban revitalization. Turning the city’s notorious jail into a springboard for ambitious social progress takes not just public investment but political will and genuinely democratic planning processes. The questions to ask are, for whom, and by whom, will Rikers be closed?”