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Rikers Island is a 413-acre (167.14-hectare) prison island in the East River in the Bronx that contains New York City's largest jail. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was originally under 100 acres (40 ha) in size, but has since grown to more than 400 acres (160 ha).
Oct 20, 2019 · This week New York City Council voted to close Rikers Island jail, which has housed high-profile inmates including Tupac Shakur, Sid Vicious, and Mark David Chapman - the man who killed John...
Sep 15, 2021 · New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex has long had a reputation for brutal conditions, but in recent months the situation inside has spun out of control. Ten people incarcerated at...
Jul 10, 2024 · Rikers was heavily criticized in the 1970s and ’80s for overpopulation, dangerous conditions and violence against incarcerated adolescents. Under then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch, the public began calling for the island to be closed.
New York is leading a historic decarceration plan to close Rikers Island and replace it with a smaller network of safer modern jails.
About Rikers Island & the Borough-Based Jail System. In October 2019, the former New York City Council passed, and former Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law, land use plans to create four modern jail facilities and permanently close the jails on Rikers Island.
Mar 4, 2024 · A senior New York City official acknowledged on Monday that Rikers Island, one of the nation’s most notorious jails, would most likely not be closed by the legally mandated deadline of August...
Oct 5, 2023 · A detainee died early Thursday at the Rikers Island jail complex, hours before the federal official appointed to monitor Rikers issued his latest scathing report about the dangerous dysfunction...
Oct 21, 2020 · NEW YORK—The de Blasio Administration today reaffirmed its commitment to the closure of jails on Rikers Island, providing the City Planning Commission with the most comprehensive plan to date to build four new borough-based facilities.
Oct 18, 2019 · Rikers Island, a New York jail notorious for the grim stories of cruelty and abuse that emerged from behind its walls, and for its infamous inmates - among them Tupac...
