The Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, have reached an agreement to transfer to two prison facilities in the state to about 230 women and transsexuals detained in the Rikers Municipal Jail, one of the most dangerous in the country .
Inmates will begin to be transferred in groups of between 10 and 20 people the week of October 18 to the Bedford Hills (Bedford) and Taconic (Taconic) prisons, and will be done twice a week, according to a joint statement. by Hochul and De Blasio.
This action “will further alleviate concerns about staffing, capacity constraints, and improve the safety of several hundred detainees until the city can identify and implement a permanent solution that does justice to the situation at Rikers,” he wrote. the governor in a message on social networks in relation to the prison located on the island of the same name, in the northeast of New York City.
This temporary transfer will help ease staffing concerns, capacity constraints, and improve safety for many until the City can implement a permanent solution that will bring justice to Rikers, and I thank the City for its partnership.
— Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) October 13, 2021
It further indicates that no detainee with pending immigration-related issues will be transferred.
The statement indicates that the Department of Prisons will provide transportation to the families and other loved ones of those transferred as of October 22.
“The situation in Rikers is serious and complex and requires bold solutions from all levels of government to generate change,” said Hochul in the statement and thanked the city for its partnership “in this important step.”
The announcement comes after Hochul signed the “Less is More” law last September, which, among other things, will prevent New Yorkers on parole from being re-entered jail if they commit technical offenses such as missing curfew or being late. to an appointment with a probation officer.
The law is intended to reduce the prison population of the largest jail in the city, with some 6,000 inmates, amid the deaths and violence that have kept it in the headlines of the media and led to a group of state legislators to request the release of its entire population, after making a visit to the jail.
The Rikers jail is scheduled to close in 2027, when it will be replaced by four smaller jails in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.
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