October 10, 2019
#cutshutinvestny - closing rikers
There’s a crisis at Rikers. New York City must #CutShutInvestNY
New Yorkers are deeply concerned about the crisis on Rikers Island. The conditions at New York City’s massive jail complex are horrific and life-threatening for human beings—the people incarcerated and those who work there. Violence is rampant. Racism and other types of bias are deeply entrenched. And although Black and Latinx people constitute about 53% of the city’s population, they represent almost 90% of jail admissions.
Rikers has become the city’s largest mental health facility: More than 40% of those incarcerated there have been diagnosed with a mental health condition but have little or no access to meaningful care while they are locked up.
Most people on Rikers Island haven’t been convicted: they’re being held in jail pretrial while considered legally innocent because, unlike those who have money, they can’t afford bail. The situation at Rikers has been deteriorating for many, many years. Under Mayor Adams, 20 people have died in city jails and Rikers is the deadliest its been in 25 years.
Rikers is a catastrophe. Rikers must be shut down.
We can fix this. New Yorkers are calling on Mayor Adams to #CutShutInvestNY:
- CUT the number of people held on Rikers. Mayor Eric Adams must cut the budgets used for caging people—the budget for the NYPD and the Department of Correction.
- SHUT down Rikers Island Jail Complex.
- INVEST in real community safety: housing, health care, education, jobs.
Take action here:
Sign the #CutShutInvestNY Campaign petition
Take action online to demand Mayor Adams shuts down Rikers
To learn more about our #CutShutInvestNY Campaign, check out our fact sheet.
Katal's #CLOSErikers Campaign Summary (Aug 2015 - Aug 2017)
January 05, 2018
January 2, 2018
