'The green plan is a great way to ensure that Rikers isn't used or reimagined for punitive measures ever again.'
“The 413 acres of Rikers Island have, for far too long, embodied an unjust and racist criminal justice system,” New York Council Member Costa Constantinides said after the passage of the act. “Far too many New Yorkers found themselves caught in a cycle of over-policing and over-incarceration symbolized by an island named for the family of a slave catcher. Now, however, we will have a golden opportunity to put the principles of the Green New Deal into practice with the Renewable Rikers Act.
In 2016, White-Harrigan joined survivors of Rikers Island and their families to build a broad coalition, #CloseRikers, to change the hearts and minds of New Yorkers. The coalition was formed by people from criminal justice reform, faith-based organizations, and the public defender’s office, as well as the formerly incarcerated. Together, in 2017, they wrested a commitment from then-Mayor Bill de Blasio to close the jail complex.
In 1884, Rikers Island was only 87.5 acres, but over the course of the next several decades, the city exploited prison labor to expand its acreage to more than 400. The landfill area is composed entirely of ash and garbage. While the last refuse barge was emptied on Rikers almost a century ago, gas leakages, sewage back-ups, and instability beneath foundations are all reminders of this build-out. To this day, the emission of methane gas gives the island a foul, rotten egg odor.
“Retiring and replacing these facilities with solar energy, battery storage, and a consolidated wastewater treatment plant on Rikers would liberate large swathes of waterfront property for communities to redevelop according to their own needs and priorities — and eliminate severe health risks,” the“We learned from the community what we could do with an opportunity like this.
To the east of the visitor center, you would find students coming and going from a research and training institute for green jobs, studying renewable energy and preparing for green-tech work, like solar installation.
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