New York City’s borough-based jails — which are meant to replace Rikers Island — will house hundreds more detainees than previously planned, Gothamist has learned.
The four planned jails for Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan will each have room for 1,040 beds, according to documents provided to Gothamist. The city last year announced plans to expand the Brooklyn jail’s capacity from a previously planned 886 beds up to that number — and city officials on Thursday confirmed that the other three jails will follow suit.
That puts the total capacity of the four new jails at 4,160, but that’s still not enough space to move out all the roughly 6,000 current detainees at Rikers Island.
As the city prepares to relocate its jails, it is fighting in court to stop a potential federal takeover of Rikers. Thirty incarcerated people have died in city custody since Adams took office at the start of 2022. The federal monitor who oversees Rikers has alleged city officials have failed to properly manage the system.
But Adams’ office took a jab at his predecessor when asked about the capacity expansion.
Adams’ spokesperson Liz Garcia said in a statement that “it [became] painfully clear” the borough-based jails plan approved under former Mayor Bill de Blasio “leaves open serious questions about the city’s ability to keep New Yorkers safe.”
“The number of beds in each of the four facilities reflects an honest accounting of the realities of the criminal justice system and public safety in our city, including maintaining critical services for those in custody,” Garcia said.
City officials did not explain how they might either add more space or reduce the city’s incarcerated population.
The new jail capacity was first referenced in a document provided through a public records request from the advocacy group Freedom Agenda.
The Department of Correction has estimated it will hold 7,000 pretrial detainees by next year. The new jails’ designs were originally…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply