CBH Talk | Renewing Rikers: From Punishment to Possibility
The future of Rikers Island is one of New York City’s most urgent and complex political challenges. Once home to a Civil War-era military training ground, the island was purchased by the city in 1884 for $180,000 to serve as a garbage dump. In 1932, construction began on what would become one of the most notorious jail complexes in the United States.
Nearly a century later, a vision for Rikers’ transformation is taking shape. In 2021, the City Council passed a landmark package of legislation known as the Renewable Rikers Laws, which mandates that the land be repurposed for broad public benefit—focusing on renewable energy infrastructure, environmental justice, and long-term sustainability. Yet, as the city moves slowly toward its 2027 deadline to close the jails and build four borough-based facilities, progress remains halting and contested.
Recent legislation, introduced by Councilmembers Sandy Nurse and Lincoln Restler, aims to hold the city accountable and accelerate planning for a sustainable, post-carceral future on the island. The Renewable Rikers coalition—including the NRDC, Freedom Agenda, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, Riverkeeper, and dozens of other advocacy groups—unites environmental and criminal justice movements around this shared goal.
Join us for an urgent and forward-looking conversation on the long, layered history of Rikers Island and the fight to transform it from a symbol of harm into a model for environmental resilience and justice. The evening begins with excerpts from the documentary Closing the Last Penal Colony, introduced by filmmaker and activist Edwin Santana, and continues with a panel discussion featuring Councilmember Lincoln Restler, co-sponsor of the Renewable Rikers legislation; Michael Higgins of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, and Dr. Shana Russell, Chief Historian, Rikers Memory Project. Graham Rayman, co-author of Rikers: An Oral History, moderates.
PARTICIPANTS
Michael Higgins Jr (he/they) is the land use planner at the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance and coordinator of the Renewable Rikers coalition. He is a longtime community organizer born and raised in Brooklyn who got his start in organizing as a member of Families United for Racial and Economic Equality doing base building and political education with public housing residents in Fort Greene, Gowanus and Boerum Hill. Later, he worked with Fifth Avenue Committee as a staff organizer supporting initiatives such as Turning the Tide and the Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice. In his previous position as Senior Organizer of Housing and Sustainability at Brooklyn Movement Center, he led tenant association development at local apartment complexes and recruitment for a renewable solar subscription service for low and moderate-income Central Brooklynites. He received his bachelor's degree in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.
Graham Rayman is a journalist in New York City, where he currently covers criminal justice for the New York Daily News. He is the co-author with Reuven Blau of Rikers: An Oral History, a finalist for the 2024 Gotham Book Prize. He is also the author of The NYPD Tapes.
Lincoln Restler represents the 33rd New York City Council District. He has prioritized the urgent issues facing our City like securing affordable housing and protecting tenants, mitigating local climate change impacts, improving public transportation and safer streets, investing in our public schools, and holding the Mayor accountable. Lincoln has helped improve safety on major corridors including Atlantic Ave and McGuinness Boulevard, led oversight of the Adams administration as Chair of the Committee on Governmental Operations, and introduced and passed critical legislation to make our communities cleaner, safer, and greener.
Before being elected to the Council, Lincoln spent most of his career as a public servant in New York City government in the Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations, including serving as Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor de Blasio. He designed and implemented programs like IDNYC – providing all New Yorkers with access to a U.S. government issued photo identification. Lincoln formerly served as Executive Director of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition.
Dr. Shana Russell is an educator, historian, and storyteller who is currently an Assistant Professor of Literature at Bard High School Early College in Newark. She serves as the chief historian of the Rikers Public Memory Project. Dr. Russell has compiled over two centuries of history of Rikers Island and documented resistance to its horrors dating back to the 19th century. She is currently compiling this research into a book, which will be the first time this historical narrative will appear in print. She hopes her work will serve as a catalyst to the overdue closing of Torture Island.
Edwin Santana is a Puerto Rican, LatinoX self-taught filmmaker/photographer and formerly incarcerated individual, who has dedicated his life to social justice. He founded TUFF ART MEDIA and his advocacy work revolves around Closing Riker's and de-carcerating New York City. He is also a Community Organizer at Freedom Agenda.
