The infamous Rikers Island prison in New York is about to close. The prison became overcrowded in the 1980s by the many crack addicts and dealers who were incarcerated there. That eventually led to a prison uprising that lasted for days.
The prison complex on the island of the same name will close in 2026 and will then become public terrain. New York City Council has earmarked about eight billion euros to open new, more humane prisons in four other places in the city.
Cruelty and inhumanity
“Rikers Island is a symbol of cruelty and inhumanity and it is time to shut down Rikers Island once and for all,” City Council Chairman Corey Johnson said ahead of the vote.
Currently there are about 7,000 people trapped on the island. Two decades ago there were 20,000. At that time there were an average of 30 people in a cell, nowadays ten.
Famous prisoners
The prisoners included rappers Tupac Shakur, DMX and Lil’Wayne. Mark Chapman, the murderer of John Lennon and former IMF CEO Dominique Strauss-Kahn were also held there for several days, Strauss-Kahn because he had been accused of rape.
At the beginning of this year, the city of New York settled for 3.3 million dollars with the relatives of Caliph Browder. The incarceration of this innocent black boy in the infamous prison is a symbol of what is wrong with the American legal system: he was often mistreated by fellow inmates and guards and eventually committed suicide.
No heating in winter
In addition to Rikers Island, the city also closes prisons in Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx, where there is sometimes no heating in the winter and no air conditioning in the summer.
“These prisons are not as infamous as Rikers Island, but they are just as gruesome and inhumane,” Johnson said.
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