FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Contact: Yonah Zeitz, yonah@katalcenter.org | (347) 201-2769
Follow on socials @KatalCenter | #ShutRikers | #CutShutInvestNY
NEW REPORT: From 2022-2025, Katal’s #ShutRikers Canvassing Project Canvassed Approximately 200,000 Doors Across New York City, Holding Thousands of Conversations with Community Members
New York, NY: Today, the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice releases a new report titled: Three Years, Five Boroughs, 200,000 Doors: A Report on Katal’s #ShutRikers Canvassing Project, September 2022–December 2025.
Katal’s organizing has always included canvassing – handing out flyers, knocking on doors, talking with people in the street – then working to get those new contacts involved. But when Eric Adams came into office in 2022 and immediately abandoned the city plan to close Rikers, we knew we had to build a larger base to hold the city accountable, and we launched a new canvassing project to do just that.
Over three years, we canvassed approximately 200,000 doors across all five boroughs. We canvassed at every major public housing complex in the city, from the Far Rockaways to Highbridge, from Cypress Hills to Stapleton and Astoria, and many more. We tabled at community centers, libraries, and senior centers. We canvassed at block parties and summer street fairs in Harlem, Brownsville, and the South Bronx. We held thousands of conversations with New Yorkers about what they want to see in their communities, about safety and justice, and about Rikers Island jail complex and why Katal and other groups are working to shut it down.
The report covers why we launched the project, where and how we did it, what it looked like day-to-day, and what we learned. The report is built around a detailed essay by our organizing director Melanie Dominguez, who directed the project, and includes a selection of daily canvassing reports from some of the more than 30 team members who participated across three years. (Read some of their quotes below.)
The canvassing report comes out at a time of growing authoritarianism and democratic backsliding within the United States. Katal’s executive director, gabriel sayegh, touches on this in the introduction: “We continue canvassing as a core component of our organizing, always learning more as we go. These are perilous times – and given the state of our country and the world, we think it’s more important than ever to be out talking with people. The rise of fascism and the ongoing attacks on democracy are bigger than any issue campaign. At Katal, we believe that organizing is the antidote to authoritarianism. But for those who have never done it, canvassing can seem abstract or vague or even a little scary. We want readers to see and hear and feel what this work entails, what it means. It’s our hope that this report gets all of that across – and inspires others to get out and talk with people about the problems our communities are facing and how we can work together to do something about it.”
Quotes from Katal’s canvassing team members (past and present):
“My experience canvassing with the Katal Center has been exciting and liberating,” said Ziyadah Amatul-Matin, a longtime member-leader of the Katal Center. “Having conversations with people about our fight to shut down Rikers and connecting with them on a deeper level is very important to me. Oftentimes, families like mine who have been directly impacted are left on the outskirts, but by reaching out to them and sharing how they can become active members of their community, we give them their agency back. It is important to let community members know how meaningful it is to attend a meeting to work together and share ideas about what we want the future to look like. It is vital to get the community working together. I love the power of organizing.”
“There are so many New Yorkers who want to see the Rikers Island jail complex shut down but have never had a clear opportunity to get involved,” said Melanie Dominguez, organizing director for the Katal Center. “That’s exactly why launching our door-knocking project was so important. We wanted to meet people where they are, without judgment, and work with them to fight back. It all begins with a conversation at someone’s front door. From there, it grows into investing in people’s leadership, building relationships, and organizing communities to create lasting change. I’ve had the honor of organizing with people who have been directly impacted by mass incarceration and who are committed to fighting for change. Organizing alongside them has shown me the power of collective action. Together we have been able to secure meaningful wins for our communities, and together we can do so much more.”
“The most meaningful part of outreach was hearing people’s stories and realizing how much I could relate,” said Lakenya Smith, a community organizer at Katal who, prior to joining staff, was a member of the canvassing team. “Those conversations reminded me that we’re stronger when we listen, connect, and organize together. As someone who started as a canvasser and grew into a Community Organizer, it was a pleasure to watch and help others learn the power of organizing and canvassing. Every conversation and every door knocked and every new leader we develop brings us closer to building the people power we need to shut down Rikers Island jail.”
“I had the pleasure of being an organizing intern and then a fellow at Katal, and got to participate on the canvassing team over a few years,” said Aryssa Speirs, MSW, who from 2023 – 2025 served both as a graduate intern and an organizing fellow at Katal. “I learned what it truly means to organize people, and it happens through consistent outreach partnered with relationship building. We have more power as a community, and I was able to have countless conversations with amazing community members across NYC who have been impacted by similar issues including mass incarceration, food insecurity, or lack of affordable housing. When people start to learn that they are not alone in experiencing these issues, they feel less powerless, which allows communities to then work together and organize more of their neighbors. I got to see firsthand how organized people can make lasting changes within their communities.”
“The summer I worked for the Katal Center and learned about canvassing was one of the best experiences I’ve had since coming home,” said Dion Johnson, who was a member of the canvassing team during the summer of 2023. “I’m truly grateful for the opportunity and for every person I met along the way. Outreach taught me the true meaning of people power that real change happens when communities come together, build relationships, and take action.”
“One of the most memorable experiences during my internship at Katal was engaging in door-to-door canvassing and speaking with community members about how incarceration has impacted their lives and communities,” said Yatri Baniya, an organizing intern in the summer of 2023. “Those conversations taught me that community organizing isn’t about speaking for those who are affected—it’s about creating spaces where people can share their own experiences and participate in creating solutions. It is also about being willing to have conversations with people, despite differences in opinion, and working together toward a common goal. The experience reinforced for me that lasting advocacy begins with listening and mutual respect, and that meaningful conversations and the right support can empower people and communities to advocate for themselves.”
“During my time as a Katal graduate intern, I participated in door-to-door canvassing and learned of its importance in helping people come together for a common goal,” said Katherine Ferrante, MSW intern from September 2025 – May 2026. “While canvassing, I was able to speak directly with community members and receive valuable feedback on how over- incarceration impacts their communities and the preferred solutions they wished to see. A memorable takeaway for me was how the community feedback was incorporated into the goals and actions of the organization, and how community members were developed into community leaders who could advocate for these goals.”
“What I appreciated most about our Shut Rikers canvassing was simply the opportunity to talk to so many of my neighbors and hear so many people’s experiences,” said Aarthi Bala, an MSW intern from September 2024 – May 2025. “Besides the importance of sharing and connecting with each other, we are so much stronger when we realize the same systems and barriers are affecting all of us, and that when we are organized we can fight for justice. I began canvassing already knowing we have to shut Rikers, but the more people I talked to, the clearer my understanding of WHY became.”
“During my year as a graduate social work intern with the Katal Center, I had the opportunity to canvass for the Shut Rikers Campaign. As a Social Work student, I had learned that canvassing is an effective tool for building relationships with communities, and during my time at Katal,” said Amira Wittenberg MSW intern from September 2025 – May 2026. “I was able to see this in practice. Through the conversations that I engaged in while canvassing, I learned about community members’ individual experiences with the New York City carceral system. These conversations created meaningful connections between our organization and some of the people who are most knowledgeable about the horrors of Rikers Island. We gained a deeper understanding of the impacts Rikers Island has on communities and built lasting relationships with individuals who have become involved in the fight to close Rikers Island.”
“Doing outreach across the five boroughs truly showed me the power, heart, and soul of the people affected by mass incarceration and the unjust systems as a whole,” said Ricky Forde, who started as a member at Katal in 2016, then from 2022 – 2026, served as a policy fellow and Policy Associate. “Throughout every conversation, people power continued to be the driving factor in how we can end mass incarceration and create the changes we truly want to see in our communities for generations to come.”
About Katal and the #ShutRikers campaign: #ShutRikers is a campaign of the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice. Katal members, supporters, and our allies are working to cut the correctional populations and the budgets used for caging people; shut down Rikers Island; and invest in real community safety: housing, health care, including mental health, education, and jobs.
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