New York’s Rikers Island jail is due to be closed in 2027, but Mayor Adams has yet to provide a clear plan to do so. Meanwhile, its population is rising, conditions have worsened, and a staggering number of people have died there in the past year. What makes Rikers so toxic? What is it like to live and work there?
Reporters Graham Rayman (The New York Daily News) and Reuven Blau (The City) provide in-depth answers to those questions in their powerful and often haunting new book, “Rikers: An Oral History” (Random House, 2023).
Please join the authors for a discussion about Rikers -- its painful past and questionable future. Participating in the discussion will be Stanley Richards, who spent time at Rikers as a prisoner and has since served as First Deputy Commissioner of the NYC Department of Corrections and is currently deputy CEO of The Fortune Society and Elizabeth Glazer, former director of the NYC Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and the founder of Vital City, a journal and policy venture offering actionable strategies to build thriving cities.
Moderating the panel will be Martha King, former executive director of the NYC Board of Correction and currently Senior Program Officer at the Charles H. Revson Foundation.
A reception with light hour de vours and drinks will follow the panel.
