Rikers Island is a 400-acre jail complex with 10 jails that has caused harm to thousands of New Yorkers, and in 2019, City Council passed a law mandating its closure by 2027. But conditions at Rikers remain dangerously unsafe and have worsened. In just the last two years, 35 people have died in New York City's Department of Corrections (DOC) custody on Rikers, and its extension The Boat (a floating jail in the Bronx). Join a panel of New Yorkers who lost loved ones in DOC custody for a conversation about their family members, the enduring crisis in New York City jails, and the changes they want to see made. Moderated by Andre Ward, host of the WBAI radio program On The Count: The Prison and Criminal Justice Report.
A reception will precede the panel discussion at 5pm
This event is part of the Justice Initiatives series.