New York to close notorious Rikers Island

New York City moved toward sweeping criminal justice reform Thursday, with a City Council vote to shutter one of the country’s most notoriously violent jails as part of a deliberate and ongoing reduction in inmate population.

The 35-to-14 vote gives Mayor Bill de Blasio the final approval he needs to replace the jails on Rikers Island with four smaller detention centers throughout the city — an $8.7 billion project that was conceived by left-leaning reformers but rejected by a movement protesting the creation of any new jails.

  Politico

A trade-off. Now maybe go after justice reforms.

And don't get too excited yet. It's still going to be open for a while.

It would have been virtually impossible, during the crack epidemic and surging violence of the 1980s and ‘90s, to imagine a successful push to close Rikers Island. The plan is only possible through policies that enable the city to reduce its jail population — from roughly 11,000 in 2014 to 7,000 today and a goal of 3,300 by 2026 when Rikers would be closed.

[...]

But a steady drop in violent crime — 295 murders last year, compared to 673 in 2000 and 2,245 in 1990 — has provided room for a political consciousness about the failings of the criminal justice system, which paved the way for Thursday’s vote.

The abuse at Rikers was underscored by Kalief Browder, who hung himself in 2015 at the age of 22 after spending two years in solitary confinement awaiting trial for allegedly stealing a backpack.

[...]

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer [...] opposed the plan, saying the city should not spend money on new jails, but rather focus more on decarceration.

“The criminalization and brutalization of people of color led to mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex that we seek to end here today,” he said. “Voting to invest $10 billion right back into that system is something I cannot do.”

“If they build it, they will fill it!” a crowd of like-minded opponents chanted as they left City Hall Thursday.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.