The New York City Council voted on Thursday to close the city's infamous Rikers Island jail complex by 2026, casting off a detention system plagued by chronic violence and decrepit facilities as part of a national rethinking of mass incarceration.
The council approved an $8.7 billion legislative package to close Rikers and three other jails, create four more humane facilities throughout the city, and eventually turn Rikers Island itself into a public space.
"Rikers Island is a symbol of brutality and inhumanity and it is time for us to once and for all close Rikers Island," City Council Speaker Corey Johnson told colleagues before the vote.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.