When Will Rikers Island Close? New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio Outlines Plan

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio released a report Thursday detailing his plan to shutter one of the most notorious prisons in the U.S., Rikers Island. The troubled jail complex has had issues with its administration and treatment of prisoners, and De Blasio wants it closed.

De Blasio’s plan is to have Rikers closed in 10 years, and have New York City’s prisoner population reduced in the next five years. Currently, there are around, 9,400 people in custody on any given day in the city, according to the report, and the mayor wants that reduced to 7,000 by 2023 as part of the process of closing Rikers. The ultimate goal is getting the population down to around 5,000 prisoners. In the early 1990s, the population could be as high as 20,000 at times.

READ: Rikers Island Reforms Move Forward, But Some Guards Have Gang Affiliations And Domestic Abuse Records

“We are not offering a quick fix. Rikers Island cannot be closed overnight. It would be much simpler for us to tell people what they want to hear and say we can achieve this goal quickly and easily, but we won’t do that. Instead, we are realistic,” De Blasio wrote in the report. “It will require the work of many city and state criminal justice agencies, elected officials, prosecutors, defenders, courts, program providers, New Yorkers and their communities to ultimately close Rikers Island. This will be a long and difficult path.”

Currently, the city’s Department of Correction can only house 2,300 inmates outside of Rikers in the other facilities around New York City. This means that existing jails in the city’s five boroughs would need improvements, and new jails would need to be built. The report doesn’t detail where or how that will be implemented. The report admits how fraught the subject of new facilities are.

“This plan will not be easy. Historically, community opposition, land use requirements, and the high cost of acquiring and developing new land have prevented the city from siting new jails or even expanding existing jails,” the report states.

Another major piece of the plan is addressing immediate issues at Rikers even if the goal is to ultimately close the facility. Just last month the correction commissioner Joseph Pointe had to resign was revelations that he and his staff were misusing city-issued cars and accusations of spying on internal investigators.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that stabbings and slashings amongst prisoners remain a problem.

READ: What Is The Mannequin Challenge? Rikers Island Jail Inmate Slashed Returning From Court

The city hopes to install additional security cameras at the facility and undertake major infrastructure projects to keep the complex standing as it closes, such as better facilities for prisoners with mental health issues. The plan also calls for opening a new training facility for correction officers. Rikers has a history of prisoner abuse by guards.

Ultimately the 51-page report details a plan for criminal justice reform in New York as much as it details closing Rikers itself. The three stated goals of the plan are smaller, safer and fairer – and are aimed at the prison population as much as the prisons.