Press Conference to Oppose New Jails
Friday, October 11th, 2:30 p.m.
A press conference to demonstrate immigrant opposition to the new jails will take place this Friday, October 11th, at 2:30 p.m., at Avenue C Plaza, located at the intersection of Avenue C and McDonald Avenue in Kensington.
A message from DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving):
As many of us know, Rikers Island is inhumane and a torture chamber for thousands of people. After many years of organizing by impacted communities, Rikers was supposed to close. Yet, Mayor de Blasio and New York City Council is pushing a $10 Billion Rikers expansion plan to build 4 borough based jails. They claim this plan will allow them to close Rikers.
However, the plan does not legally guarantee Rikers will close. The only guarantee is that there will be 4 New Rikers and 4 new opportunities that lead to increased policing and criminalization, which lead to more imprisonment for communities of color, and increased detentions and deportations for immigrants.
Join us as immigrant communities to say NO to 4 New Rikers and demand the investment of the $10 Billion into our communities to build community mental health centers, build more schools to reduce overcrowding, improve public housing, fix our subways, build real housing for homeless New Yorkers, and jobs programs. These are investments we need in our communities to thrive and prevent people from being incarcerated in the first place.
We cannot claim to be a sanctuary city, demand Abolish ICE and end concentration camps and allow for the building of 4 New Rikers. We are pushing City Council to vote NO on building 4 new Rikers and reinvest money into our communities.
Call your City Council members and urge them to vote NO to the new jails plan. You can look up your City Council member here: https://council.nyc.gov/find-my-district.
Sample Phone Call Guide:
"Hello. My name is ______ , and I live in _______ which is in Councilmember ______ district.
As a resident of this city, I need you to vote No on the plan to build 4 new Rikers in the boroughs, with $11 Billion Dollars.
Rikers Island needs to be closed. The conditions are horrible and inhumane. When the city wanted to open Rikers, they said it would be a modern, humane jail. The same is being used to build the 4 new Rikers. There is NO such thing as a humane jail.
The $11 Billion Dollars need to be spent on our local schools, hospitals, housing and jobs to actually prevent people from being sent into prisons.
Can you, Councilmember ______ commit to voting against the plan?"
If they don’t commit to voting no, ask
"Can you commit to delaying the vote? There are many concerns about this plan, including no legal guarantee to close Rikers."
Brad Lander is the City Councilmember for District 39, which covers Kensington, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Columbia Waterfront, and Gowanus. His office's phone number is 718-499-1090.