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#ShutRikers Canvassing Report
Three Years, Five Boroughs, 200,000 Doors: A Report on Katal’s #ShutRikers Canvassing Project, September 2022–December 2025. Written by Katal staff. Published June 2026. Press release for the repo…
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Testimony for City Council Hearing on Voting at Rikers Island
Testimony by Amira Wittenberg, MSW Intern Thank you, Chair Selvena N. Brooks-Powers and Chair Gale A. Brewer, for today’s joint hearing between the New York City Council’s Criminal Justice Committ…
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Testimony for FY 2027 Preliminary Budget Hearing – Criminal Justice
Testimony Submitted by our organizing director, Melanie Dominguez Click here to download a PDF of the testimony. See the full testimony below: Thank you, Chair Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, for holding th…
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Marking Katal’s 10-year Anniversary
Dear Reader, “What time is it on the clock of the world?” For decades this is what Detroit-based organizer Grace Lee Boggs urged people to ask themselves and each other. We asked this question whe…
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Our Annual Letter: Katal’s Impact in 2025
By gabriel sayegh What a year this has been, on so many levels. In the midst of chaos, Katal has kept up our organizing and secured major victories. I’m proud to share highlights of our work and imp…
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OP-ED: Mothers Call on Gov. Hochul to Sign the Jail and Prison Oversight Bill
By Waheedah Abdul-Mateen and Ziyadah Amatul-Matin We write this together as two mothers, and as a mother and daughter, whose lives have been irreversibly shaped by New York State’s prison system…
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Governor Hochul Must Sign BIll to Overhaul the Jail and Prison Watchdog
Katal Blog
As families in Queens and across New York look forward to spending time with their families over the holidays, many families, including those here in Queens, will spend the holidays grieving their lov…
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Melanie Dominguez Opening Remarks, Jail+Prison Oversight Rally
On a freezing Tuesday morning, December 9, 2025, Katal and our allies rallied outside the New York City midtown office of Governor Kathy Hochul, calling on the governor to immediately sign the prison…
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An update on our organizing: Calling on Gov. Hochul to sign the Jail and Prison Oversight Omnibus Bill into law
New York’s jails and prisons are in crisis. The brutal killings of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi at Marcy and Mid-State prisons underscore the violence and abuse incarcerated people face in New Y…
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Rikers Island and Mental Health: Pathways Toward Community-Based Diversion and Jail Population Reduction
As New York City works toward its mandate to close Rikers Island, addressing the mental health needs of people detained in the jail system remains a central challenge—and a defining opportunity for…
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Katal Ending Operations in Connecticut
After nearly 10 years, Katal is ending our operations in Connecticut. Such decisions are rarely easy and are almost always complicated. That’s true for us too. In this instance, our decision ultimat…
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OP-ED: With Rikers Island, Eric Adams has made a bad situation worse
Amsterdam News
By gabriel sayegh in Amsterdam News May 29, 2025 The New York Daily News recently ran an exclusive story with the headline “NYC Mayor Adamsexploring abandoning current plan to shut down Rikers Islan…
