Big news out of New York City this afternoon as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he’s endorsing a plan to begin the process of closing the Rikers Island jail facility that houses some 10,000 inmates daily with upwards of 100,000 admissions/year:
@NYCMayor Bill de Blasio just announced the city will close Rikers Island. pic.twitter.com/qFHrmJoeW7
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) March 31, 2017
De Blasio had referred to closing the jail as “unrealistic” in prior statements, but now he’s changed his mind:
de Blasio (who’s up for re-election this year) reportedly now backs closing Riker’s. Before called it “unrealistic"https://t.co/s0Ou2HheZX
— Katherine Krueger (@kath_krueger) March 31, 2017
De Blasio wants to replace Rikers with a network of “borough-based jails,” at an estimated cost of $10.6 billion. From the NYT:
The commission’s top recommendation, according to a draft of the report reviewed by The New York Times, is to move inmates off Rikers Island and into a system of smaller, borough-based jails, at a cost of $10.6 billion
And once Rikers is closed, get ready for New York City’s hottest new neighborhood that people can move to who all of a sudden find themselves living next to “borough-based jails” around the city:
this is maybe the most fucked part though (condos on the former Riker’s Island?? who knows!) pic.twitter.com/4LYsukMsk2
— Katherine Krueger (@kath_krueger) March 31, 2017
Ka-ching! Look at those views! Access to Long Island Sound, too. Only one road in and out. Rikers Island could be the most desirable land in the city:
Although nothing will make a New Yorker conservative faster than seeing their property values go down thanks to new jails moving in. We’ll see if this proposal goes anywhere, but it’s doubtful.
***
