United States: Renewable Rikers: Examining Current Plans To Repurpose And Revitalize Rikers Island

I. Introduction

With the passage of the Renewable Rikers Act (the act) by the New York City (NYC or the city) Council in February 2021,¹ Rikers Island, the penal colony with a horrific legacy of environmental injustice, inhumane conditions, and a mounting death toll,² has been given a chance many people incarcerated there have not been afforded: a chance at rehabilitation. The act, originating from the vision of a coalition of environmental and criminal justice advocates,³ proposes to transform Rikers Island from a "symbol of brutality and inhumanity" to a renewable energy hub and restorative justice success.⁴ The act requires the full transfer of jurisdiction of Rikers Island from the Department of Corrections (DOC) to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), with incremental transfers of Rikers buildings and land not being used by incarcerated people mandated to occur every six months between July 2021 and the end of August 2027. Additionally, the act directs the city to study Rikers Island's potential for wastewater treatment and renewable energy generation and storage—an initial step in effectuating plans to create a green hub on Rikers Island while reducing environmental burdens on communities of color throughout the city.

To date, the James A. Thomas Center, a 1,200 bed jail, and 43 acres of vacant, unused land on Rikers Island have been transferred to the jurisdiction of DCAS, while the full 413-acre land transfer from DOC to DCAS is scheduled to be completed by August 31, 2027.⁵ After delays initially attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic,⁶ the city continues to suggest additional delays in its plan to close Rikers Island down as a jail complex.⁷ Per the Closing Rikers Commitment Tracker maintained by the city, progress is being made toward building four "new, smaller, and more modern facilities" in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, known as the borough-based jail (the BBJ) system.⁸ However, the Closing Rikers Commitment Tracker has not been updated since August 2022, and the BBJ system faces construction delays, which has caused key stakeholders to question Mayor Eric Adams' commitment to closing Rikers Island by the 2027 legally mandated deadline.⁹ Moreover, the number of people incarcerated in the city is not shrinking fast enough to reach the population target for the BBJ system: as of June 1, 2023, a total of 6,004 people were incarcerated, which is close to double the intended capacity of the BBJ system.¹⁰ Finally, and most recently, Mayor Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced that they reached an agreement on the city's $107 billion budget which, among other things, cuts important social services at Rikers Island, which advocates argue will thwart the city's ability to effectively reduce the overall jail population and reintegrate individuals back into society.¹¹

Although the city has taken these initial steps to implement the Renewable Rikers vision, its progress over the next few years will be crucial in ensuring that the vision is timely realized and input from communities disproportionately affected by mass incarceration and environmental injustice and racism is solicited and prioritized. After providing a brief history of Rikers Island, this article examines the current plans for Rikers Island—known as the Renewable Rikers Plan—and discusses legal considerations for Rikers Island's future.

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Footnotes

1. N.Y.C. Local Law Nos. 16, 17, and 31 (2021); Press Release, New York City Council, Council Votes to Pass the "Renewable Rikers" Act (Feb. 11, 2021), https://council.nyc.gov/ press/2021/02/11/2069/ [hereinafter City Council Press Release]; see also Press Release, City of New York, Mayor de Blasio Signs Bills to Secure a Renewable Future for Rikers Island, Prevent Public Corruption (Feb. 25, 2021), https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-themayor/news/133-21/mayor-de-blasio-signs-bills-secure-renewablefuture-rikers-island-prevent-public.

2. Jan Ransom & Jonah Bromwich, Tracking the Deaths in New York City's Jail System in 2022, N.Y. Times (Dec. 12, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/article/rikers-deaths-jail.html.

3. Max Parrott, Coalition of Environmental and Criminal Justice / Advocates Unite Around Renewable Rikers legislation, QNS (Dec. 12, 2019), https://qns.com/2019/12/coalition-of-environmentaland-criminal-justice-advocates-unite-around-renewable-rikerslegislation/; Renewable Rikers, N.Y. Lawyers for the Pub. Int., https://www.nylpi.org/campaign/renewable-rikers/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2023).

4. Rebecca Bratspies, Renewable Rikers: A Plan For Restorative Environmental Justice, 66 Loy. L. Rev. 371, 373 (2021).

5. Julia Moro, City Transfers Portion of Rikers Island Land From DOC, Moves Closer to Renewable Rikers, QNS (Jan. 31, 2022), https://qns.com/2022/01/city-tranfers-portion-rikers-island-land/.

6. Rachel Holliday Smith, Manhattan Jail Design Forges Ahead Even as Plan to Replace Rikers is Delayed to 2027, The City (Oct.19, 2020), https://www.thecity.nyc/2020/10/19/21524219/manhattan-jailtombs-replace-rikers-delayed-nyc.

7. Jacob Kaye, Mayor Casts Doubt on Plan To Close Rikers, Queens Daily Eagle (Aug. 31, 2022), https://queenseagle.com/all/2022/8/31/mayor-casts-doubt-on-plan-to-close-rikers; Samantha Maldonado, City Jails Won't Turn Over Shuttered Rikers Building on Path to Green Island, The City (June 22, 2022), https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/6/22/23179271/nyc-doc-keeping-shut-rikers-building.

8. Beyond Rikers Commitment Tracker, N.Y.C. Mayor's Off. of Crim. Just. (Aug. 2022), https://rikers.cityofnewyork.us/beyond-rikers/.

9. Jacob Kaye, Speaker Adams Bashes Mayor on Plan to Close Rikers, Queens Daily Eagle (Mar. 16, 2023), https://queenseagle.com/all/2023/3/16/speaker-adams-bashes-mayor-on-plan-to-close-rikers.

10. Department of Correction Dashboard, Off. of the N.Y.C. Comptroller, https://comptroller.nyc.gov/services/for-the-public/department-of-correction-doc/dashboard/.

11. Dan Rubinstein & Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Libraries Spared by Rikers Suffers in $107 Billion N.Y.C. Budget Deal, The New York Times (June 29, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/nyregion/new-york-mayor-city-council-budget-deal.html.

Originally Published by NYSBA The New York Environmental Lawyer

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