Advocates renew calls to close Rikers Island as possible federaltakeover looms
By Courtney Gross from Spectrum News NY1 Published September 25, 2024 Lawyers for prisoners on Rikers Island continued in court Wednesday to make the same arguments they have for years — that a massive overhaul is needed to make the city’s jails safer, and a federal judge must appoint a receiver to get real change. […]
NYC judge orders DOC and civil rights lawyers to flesh outplan to restructure how jails are ru
By Molly Crane-Newman & Graham Rayman via NY Daily News A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday directed top Department of Correction leadership and civil rights attorneys representing Rikers Island detainees to flesh out a plan to restructure how the city’s jails are run amid staggering and increasing levels of brutality. Chief Judge Laura Swain issued […]
Renewed push on to close Rikers Island
Interview by: Zinnia Maldonado via CBS News CBS News New York’s Zinnia Maldonado has new details aboutthe death of an inmate two years ago. She spoke to his family’sattorney on Wednesday.
Rikers Island detainee dies after apparent medical episode, marks fifth death in jails this year
Ben Brachfeld, via AMNY A person detained on Rikers Island became the fifth person held in city jails to die this year, passing away at a Queens hospital Tuesday morning after an apparent medical episode. The Department of Correction said that Anthony Jordan, 63, was rushed from the jail complex’s North Infirmary Command to Mount […]
Personnel shakeup proposed at prison oversight commission
David Lombardo, via Capitol Press Room A group of progressive criminal justice advocates and Democratic state lawmakers are hoping to reform the state Commission of Correction so that it has more members and more diverse backgrounds. Yonah Zeitz, director of advocacy with the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, discusses how new personnel at the oversight […]
The Rikers federal takeover waiting game
By Emily Ngo, Jeff Coltin and Nick Reisman, via POLITICO A status hearing today on whether control of Rikers Island should be stripped from the Adams administration and given to a federal receiver also serves as a status check of the notoriously dysfunctional jail complex. “The most basic elements of care and custody, including rudimentary practices necessary […]
Will Rikers in NYC be run by federal authorities? A judge weighs the option
By James Ford, via Pix11 News LOWER MANHATTAN (PIX11) — For nine decades, the City of New York has operated the jail on Rikers Island. On Tuesday, the possibility of the federal government taking over was the center of a hearing before a judge, with no fewer than 14 attorneys making their cases for or […]
Middletown concerned about wetlands activity where farmer wants to create incubatorfarm
By Cassandra Day, via The Middletown Press MIDDLETOWN — A city agency recently prolonged a cease and desist order it issued in June to a local farmer and owner of 13.5 acres at 350 Randolph Road following a wetlands dispute. Matt Mitchell, owner of Lovie’s Farm, returned to the Middletown Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency meeting last week without […]
Advocates push for closure of Rikers Island as federal takeover remains uncertain
By Errol Louis, via Inside City Hall A court hearing was held Tuesday afternoon on whether the city should remain in control of Rikers Island or if it should be taken over by a federal receiver. But the fate of the jail complex won’t be decided for at least a few months, with a new […]
Adams-aligned PAC is donating across the country
By Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman, via POLITICO New York Minute: City of Yes is going to hear a lot of nos. The New York CityPlanning Commission is holding a public hearing today at 10 a.m. on the plan tochange regulations to “build a little more housing in every neighborhood.”A Mayor Eric Adams’ […]
