Submitted by marshall_project t3_yfuu8c in nyc
Comments
drpvn t1_iu5xliz wrote
I have to think that if we decided to rebuild new facilities on the island, rather than try to put smaller ones in four separate, densely populated locations, Rikers would already be closed.
MillennialNightmare t1_iu69ejk wrote
How do you close Rikers by building new facilities on Rikers thus keeping Rikers open?
gaiusahala t1_iu6adfv wrote
That’s just quibbling about nomenclature, ‘Rikers’ [the island] vs ‘Rikers’ [the jail]. If the entire jail is built from scratch adjacent, and the old one torn down then it is not the same place at all. Obviously renovations/annexes would not fix this problem, it would have to be clean slate.
MillennialNightmare t1_iu6cnul wrote
Rikers is not a single jail facility. The proximity to the rest of the city, as well as an inability for families and legal staff to easily visit their loved ones and clients is as big an issue as anything else.
30roadwarrior t1_iu6qeuh wrote
Yeah because no outsiders make it to Astoria to party and the multitude of clubs every night.
Sad fact, lots of losers in jail don’t get visits. People with support networks and decent families get visitors. Conversely those people are far less likely to end up on Rikers…
Place also has successful fraternities and networking opportunities (UBN).
MillennialNightmare t1_iu6r2ep wrote
Do you actually think it’s as easy to get to Rikers as it is to get to Astoria?
30roadwarrior t1_iu7grvb wrote
Hmmmm for drivers yes. Rikers is connected to Astoria. People get to LaGuardia too, same general area. For public transport there’s dedicated bus lanes and buses, yeah you can get there.
Pkuz88 t1_iu8w5pt wrote
Yes ive visited and picked people up from rikers, reaply wasnt that hard to get there
hortence1234 t1_iuav5cg wrote
Yes
OnFolksAndThem t1_iu82me3 wrote
Lol. I’m high as hell and I cracked up at ubn being mentioned in a mainstream nyc sub lmao
DeathTripper t1_iu95je2 wrote
FFS they have a prison barge still, don’t they? I’m not saying it’s not possible, nor do I necessarily agree dividing it up across boroughs, but hell, shits overcrowded and the logistics of building on the island, moving prisoners, etc. seem like a fucking nightmare that the DOC could barely manage.
drpvn t1_iu6bnb3 wrote
Is this a serious question?
MillennialNightmare t1_iu6cocj wrote
Can you answer it?
drpvn t1_iu6husv wrote
Is it serious?
MillennialNightmare t1_iu6k37y wrote
Seems like the simple answer here is no, you can’t answer it because answering the question makes your point moot.
drpvn t1_iu6kdwb wrote
🤡
OutrageousGarbage743 t1_iu726rl wrote
Looked in the mirror lately?!
FormerKarmaKing t1_iu6mzo8 wrote
Trust me, just block the commentators account. I thought I had. Given their username the best case scenario is that they’re a troll. The worst…
drpvn t1_iu75qko wrote
I fear the worst.
[deleted] t1_iu6bi5d wrote
[deleted]
drpvn t1_iu5ogp1 wrote
>We must also pay attention to the shocking racial disparities in our city’s jails. Black and Latinx people make up 52% of the New York City population but about 90% of jail admissions. Bolstering resources in neighborhoods of color disproportionately affected by incarceration will help those communities support their returning neighbors as we reduce incarceration.
The racial disparities in our city's jails is a reflection of the demographics of the most serious offenders. So, too, are the racial disparities among the victims of violence on this city.
>In 2020, Black New Yorkers, who make up about 24 percent of the city’s population, were the victims in 65 percent of murders and 74 percent of shootings. They were also the largest racial demographic among victims of felony assault and rape.
elizabeth-cooper t1_iu5pb4o wrote
Victims don't matter. Did you see the part of the essay where he slams absenteeism but excuses wife beating?
drpvn t1_iu5q8kq wrote
These vague complaints about “mass incarceration,” as if nothing has changed in NY or NYC in the last 30 years, are essentially criminal justice reform copypasta. By far, the most common charge that defendants in Rikers are locked up on is murder/manslaughter and attempted murder/manslaughter. Want to set them all loose? Pray for their families and neighbors.
cakeschristmas t1_iu6bb4i wrote
Do you have a source for the statement about the most common charge?
drpvn t1_iu6bfz6 wrote
cakeschristmas t1_iu6bvn4 wrote
These are stats for the entire NYC Department of Corrections. It doesn't say the word "Rikers" once anywhere.
Life-Answer-7428 t1_iu8pqrp wrote
I'll never downvote someone asking for a source to a statment
bellaboozle t1_iu6obvh wrote
He did not slam anyone or excuse wife beating.
He said CO’s often do not come to work due to unlimited sick leave and not wanting to be there. He then gave several examples of the side effects of absenteeism.
He also said CO’s cared about the inmates and some world work 3 shifts back to back to make sure the inmates got showers, to see their family, etc.
He said CO’s started to commit crimes themselves.
It seemed a well rounded piece. He wants to invest money in the community and not Rikers.
elizabeth-cooper t1_iubdc7v wrote
>Many correctional officers came to us as decent, hard-working people eager to make a difference. But during my tenure, dozens of officers were arrested for crimes like drunk driving, discharging their weapons dangerously, and spousal or child abuse. In my view, somewhere between the onboarding of fresh-faced recruits and these arrests, the trauma they experienced on Rikers contributed to their illegal behavior.
This is excusing their crimes.
blockdenied t1_iu81ndc wrote
Are you saying that black communities and more affected by crime because of their income status and the place they live? Oh my, I wonder if we already knew that ever since the end of time here in NYC.
Also "latinx" is a whitewashing term.
GoRangers5 t1_iu79dzq wrote
No question, we need to arrest more whites.
stork38 t1_iu5n8s3 wrote
The headline is bogus. He spent the last 40 years working in academia, not as a practitioner.
MinefieldFly t1_iu60k94 wrote
You’re completely wrong.
He ran Juvenile Justice in DC, ran probation and parole in NYC, and worked in various government agencies that deal directly with NYC DOC.
I’ve been to a few dozen correctional facilities all over the country and Rikers was very obviously, far and away, the worst.
nlsnpgr84 t1_iu636w5 wrote
The worst beyond measure.
Lonewolf5333 t1_iu6tv76 wrote
Don’t overstate his resume he was running a Non-profit for most of his career until DeBum gave him a job. And the justice system he mostly dealt with was for juveniles not adults. Where he advocated for rehabilitation for juveniles which btw is failing spectacularly and if you think I’m just blowing smoke. Talk to any detective working in inner cities and ask them who are their habitual offenders are; car thieves, shooters, carjackers, other assaults. I don’t want to go off on a tangent
This is all political theater. Rikers is bad place okay let’s tear it down and build other jails to house accused murderers, rapists, robbers in your neighborhood. Because you know whose going to be disproportionately impacted by the creation of new jails lower-income minority communities. The usual dumping ground for these “reforms”. But at least detainees won’t be in cells infested with roaches.
MinefieldFly t1_iu6yq1j wrote
I didn’t overstate shit. OP called him a career academic, which is obviously wrong, and I named a couple of the other things he’s done, which include being a practitioner in corrections. Running a juvenile system is way more experience with the system than any activist or professor has.
Thanks for the tip on asking cops what they think about locking kids up. The absolute last fucking people in the world I need to hear more from on the subject.
Like I said, I’ve been to lots of prisons and jails. Rikers is worse than all of them. Grow up and realize there is a middle ground between letting everyone out and letting a facility turn into a humanitarian crisis.
Lonewolf5333 t1_iu73qf5 wrote
Okay so first thing first.
You keep reiterating the point that you’ve visited correctional facilities. With that in mind in what capacity did you visit them are an academic, were you employed by a facilities, did you have incarcerated family or friends?
-
Imo you did overstate this guy’s position he’s hardly what I would consider an objective commentator. His life’s work is advocating for lesser sentencing. So with that mind-set do you think he’s really going to provide a fresh unbiased take on Rikers? Even though the general consensus maybe that Rikers is terrible, there still is a necessity for local correction facilities so how is that addressed?
-
I know you score special points for being extra hateful for any mention of police. Would you feel better if I referenced school teachers or maybe workers in the Waste Management Department on the state of crime among juveniles?
Every time Rikers comes up it’s always the same bullshit rhetoric. People claiming that their cousin’s girlfriend, best friend knew a guy that was locked up for two years in Rikers for a traffic ticket. But in actuality Rikers houses people either awaiting trial for high degree felonies or awaiting sentencing. So it begs the question you take them out of Rikers where do you put them? Build more jails, release them, mix them with people being housed for non-violent offenses (like DUIs)? But I’m pretty sure you just have righteous indignation and not any real thoughts on the realities of shutting down Rikers.
MinefieldFly t1_iu7duaj wrote
I visited them in a professional capacity, and I have also visited rikers to visit someone.
You’re putting lots of words in my mouth about abolish the correctional system or something. Literally my only purpose here was to correct the highly upvoted comment on schiaraldi and vouch for the fact that rikers is more fucked up than most facilities.
Lonewolf5333 t1_iu8oxw2 wrote
Stop with your bullshit… I never implied that you advocating for abolishing the correctional system. But I guess you have to resort to these types of bullshit responses in order to disguise the fact that you have nothing to offer towards a real discussion about Rikers.
And why so defensive for this obvious political hack Schiaraldi? The guy was an administrator with obvious political bent. Why the fuck is he a trustworthy commentator? Being an Administrator is sure as fuck different than working as a teacher, nurse, even CO in jails. You know people that actually work daily in these institutions and interact with inmates. Not some guy sitting in a office at Kiddie Jail.
MinefieldFly t1_iu98s09 wrote
We weren’t discussing solving rikers, just whether schiraldi had any authority to speak on it, which he obviously does, even if you disagree with his viewpoint. Just like Molina or Brann or any CO or staffer or any detainee does.
relampagos_shawty t1_iu5otic wrote
Well that’s misleading af
GoRangers5 t1_iu79gyq wrote
>The headline is bogus.
It usually is
v_for__vegeta t1_iu5twbl wrote
Ahhh …. another champagne Intellectual casting his infinite wisdoms on the plebs
seenew t1_iu5yrmk wrote
tf is a champagne intellectual
Lonewolf5333 t1_iu6rk7m wrote
I think this refers to wealthy usually white liberals who attempt to act as “saviors” instructing lower-income minorities on what is or isn’t good for them.
seenew t1_iu6s788 wrote
ah yes a uniquely liberal phenomenon
Lonewolf5333 t1_iu6v7o8 wrote
No but I would argue both can be harmful.
froggythefish t1_iu60aos wrote
I’m guessing it’s another term for armchair intellectual
seenew t1_iu62xcv wrote
it’s stupid anti-intellectualism is what it is
marshall_project OP t1_iu59p75 wrote
In this Life Inside essay, former New York City jails commissioner Vincent Schiraldi writes about why Rikers is "Exhibit A for why we need to end mass incarceration.”
drpvn t1_iu5n1wd wrote
The people in Rikers are by and large there for pretty serious offenses.
cakeschristmas t1_iu6b6y9 wrote
Do you have a source for this?
Lonewolf5333 t1_iu6qzln wrote
The source is: Trust me bro
Rottimer t1_iu6ekdb wrote
you mean charged with pretty serious offenses because we have reduced the number of people we keep behind bars awaiting trial for misdemeanors. It most certainly wasn't the case before bail reform where far more people would be sent to the island for non-violent offenses.
Further, "by and large" still means that there are people sitting in Rikers for non-serious offenses. And some people are put there entirely illegally.
drpvn t1_iu6hkyd wrote
I’d have to check the data—surely there were a lot more people in Rikers charged with non-violent crimes, but I’m not sure how many. It’s knowable info from the DOC reports, though.
When you have a city of 8.5 million people, and bail reform prevents any jail time for non-violent offenders (regardless of how many repeat offenses), the 5,000 who are left in the system are very hard cases.
But yet all we hear from the progressive left is “mass incarceration.”
IKNWMORE t1_iu8mrrj wrote
No one is going to Rikers for Petit larceny. They might be going their for Petit Larceny + bench warrant etc. but they aren’t ending up in jail for non violent crimes.
Rottimer t1_iu8pcrc wrote
At least read the link. Your feeling don’t change what’s actually going on.
OutrageousGarbage743 t1_iu72m4i wrote
Guilty before proven innocent?
yankuniz t1_iu60cq0 wrote
Growing up in the area, this has not been my experience.
drpvn t1_iu612fd wrote
In what area?
Your info is bad and/or outdated. Here is the most recent breakdown of the charges for the average daily population in Rikers.
The most common charge: murder/manslaughter.
Extension_Gap2319 t1_iu6j7wb wrote
Actually the game is to charge people with the highest possible crimes, have the remanded to Rikers for weeks, usually 6 to 8 months, then release them on reduced pleas with "time served". So, what they are charged with sounds way scary then what they served time for and are released back to the public.
[deleted] t1_iu6jjup wrote
[deleted]
yankuniz t1_iu67btp wrote
I just know a number of people who have spent time there for non violent crimes. Granted, not so much recently but within the last decade
NetQuarterLatte t1_iu5i9cf wrote
>In this Life Inside essay, former New York City jails commissioner Vincent Schiraldi writes about why Rikers is "Exhibit A for why we need to end mass incarceration.”
NYC jail population has been declining fast and is extremely low now.
mission17 t1_iu5vwar wrote
Yet still the jail is seeing record deaths this year. Really speaks well to our ability to incarcerate well when this is what life pre-trial looks like.
NetQuarterLatte t1_iu7cpl1 wrote
How many people were murdered in the NYC jails this year?
MinefieldFly t1_iu6336o wrote
Mostly true, but it looks like decline has slowed and either leveled out or reversed. There are more people on rikers today (5500) than in 2021 (4900), and almost as many as the average daily population in 2020 (5800).
Obviously 2020 was a weird one, but had ~4 normal months too. We are not back at 2019 levels yet (7,938) but we will see what happens next year.
stork38 t1_iu5kni3 wrote
Another quality De Blasio hire
elizabeth-cooper t1_iu5cnj6 wrote
>Similarly, research by the Center for Court Innovation found that sentencing people to New York’s jails increased the likelihood that they would be rearrested within two years by 7%
Could you point out which page in the report this stat is on?
FalconesPunch t1_iu8p5ad wrote
When I used to be a paralegal for a Criminal Defense Attorney I used to have to go to Rikers to visit clients
In addition to smelly and damp, the place has an intimidating atmosphere fucking crazy ass place lmfao
Ifartsthearts t1_iugmcig wrote
When is the city’s lease up on the island?
SnooAvocados5987 t1_iuj3nm5 wrote
Rikers today is NOTHING like it was in the 90s. Thst was real crime
Illustrious_Air_118 t1_iu88c5k wrote
The American penal system is a racket, existing to provide the state with free labor, to feed state-connected private entities taxpayer-subsidized profits, and to brutalize its incarcerated population as a deterrent to challenging those in power. It’s completely divorced from the rehabilitation of its individual prisoners or ameliorating the effects of crime on society at large.
GoPikachuGo1 t1_iuaszam wrote
close rikers and replace it with a mental health hospital and affordable housing.
BrieGoneThot t1_iu59vwp wrote
Rikers is some truly repugnant third world shit in our back door. If you showed me pictures from inside there and told me they were from Iran or Venezuela or something I would believe you.