Mayor Bill de Blasio released a plan Thursday aimed at reducing the inmate population at Rikers Island in hopes of shutting the troubled jail complex down in about 10 years.
In order to do so, the mayor said the daily incarcerated population needs to drop to 5,000 from the current average of 9,400. Among the key proposals are replacing short jail sentences with community programs; speeding up case processing; coming up with alternatives to jailing homeless women and making it easier to post bail.
"The goals of diverting people, providing community alternatives to jail and having a smaller, fairer criminal justice system are things that everyone should work to and be proud of," said Tina Luongo, an attorney in charge of criminal practice at the Legal Aid Society.
But some say the mayor isn't going far enough. Gabriel Sayegh, co-executive director of the Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice, said the plan comes almost three months after an independent commission chaired by former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman released a similar proposal for Rikers Island. It also called to close the facility in 10 years but gave more detail about how to do it.
"The mayor does not appear to be drawing upon the insight, wisdom and expertise represented by the Lippman commission and its exhaustive report," Sayegh said. "The mayor's report simply lacks vision."
De Blasio has been cautions about making any promises and didn't publicly endorse the move to shutter Rikers Island until earlier this year. On WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show Thursday, the mayor said getting rid of the 85-year-old jail complex is a tall order.
"I'm gonna be blunt with people throughout this process [about] just how difficult, just how complex it is to get this done," he said.
Councilman Rory Lancman of Queens, however, disagrees.
“Let there be no doubt: New York City can close Rikers Island in less than ten years, if we have the leadership and political will required to do so,” Lancman, chair of the Committee on Courts & Legal Services, said in a statement.
De Blasio said another hurdle to closing the jail complex is finding space for the remaining inmates. The Lippman commission called for new detention centers near the courthouses in each borough, a move de Blasio seems skeptical about.
"All of it is theoretical unless a council member comes forward and says 'I'm gonna support the placement of this facility,'" he said on WNYC.
But City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who commissioned Lippman's proposal earlier this year, said her colleagues—except for those on Staten Island—are ready.
"We already have indicated our willingness to work collaboratively with the administration on the siting of jails," she told reporters Thursday.