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Push to Close Rikers Island, Move Inmates to Boroughs Divides New Yorkers

The City Council’s planned transfer of inmates to a borough-based system will be complete by 2027, but the plan is mired in controversy.
Push to Close Rikers Island, Move Inmates to Boroughs Divides New Yorkers
This March 16, 2011, file photo shows a barbed wire fence outside inmate housing on New York's Rikers Island correctional facility in New York. Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo, File
Michael Washburn
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NEW YORK CITY—The city’s decision to close the prisons on Rikers Island and transfer inmates to four smaller detention centers in the outer boroughs has sparked vigorous support and opposition.

Criminal justice reform advocates are hailing the move as long overdue, while others are expressing concern about the impact on the neighborhoods that will host the prisoners.

Michael Washburn
Michael Washburn
Reporter
Michael Washburn is a New York-based reporter who covers U.S. and China-related topics for The Epoch Times. He has a background in legal and financial journalism, and also writes about arts and culture. Additionally, he is the host of the weekly podcast Reading the Globe. His books include “The Uprooted and Other Stories,” “When We're Grownups,” and “Stranger, Stranger.”