NYC: Juneteenth rally at Rikers Island
NEW YORK (77WABC) — Sources tell The New York Post that opening four borough jails to replace Rikers Island is becoming a politically explosive issue for New York City Mayor Eric Adams amid outrage over the city’s crime surge.
A hint of the backlash that lies ahead surfaced at the inaugural ceremony for new Lower East Side Councilman Christopher Marte on Feb. 27. In a surprise announcement during his speech, Marte suggested he had persuaded Adams to oppose opening a “mega jail” in Chinatown.
Listen to Council Member Christopher Marte as he speaks against the jail proposed in Chinatown as a “ decade of dust and the construction of the tallest jail in the world.” This is just a part of his powerful speech!@NYCMayor@MarkLevineNYC pic.twitter.com/alxXwhWzW5
— Margo margolis (@MargolisMargo) February 7, 2022
A source who attended Marte’s inaugural speech confirmed the councilman’s remarks and was stunned at his claim that Adams opposed the jail. However Marte was contacted by The Post about his comments and backpedaled on his publicly declared claim that Adams now opposed the jail in Chinatown, saying he was misunderstood.
The deal to close the Rikers jail complex in favor of community jails in every borough except Staten Island was approved in 2019 by former Mayor Bill de Blasio and many term-limited City Council members who are no longer around. That action preceded the COVID-19 pandemic when crime was relatively low.
The four new jails are slated to be built on the site of the NYPD’s Bronx tow pound, the now-closed Queens Detention Center in Kew Gardens and at the current sites of the Brooklyn Detention Complex in Boerum Hill and Manhattan Detention Complex in Chinatown.
