A plan to close New York’s most famous jail and replace it with four neighborhood facilities is meeting opposition from Chinatown residents.
The proposal unveiled by Mayor Bill de Blasio would shut down Rikers Island and place one of the proposed new jails in downtown Manhattan on the border of Chinatown, reports the Bowery Boogie.
600 people have signed a Change.org petition opposing the plan.
The petition was launched by community activist Karlin Chan.
Closing Rikers and building 4 boro based prisons will not address the broken system or policies in place. We need real prison reform. @errollouis@boweryboogie @CeFaanKim @ABC7NY @sohoradio. @Tribecahttps://t.co/ewcg1TTJOF
— Karlin Chan 陳家齡 (@Karlin_C) August 17, 2018
“I am enraged by the fact that once again we are left in the dark as critical decisions are made behind closed doors,” Manhattan Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou said in a statement to City & State.
City Councilwoman Margaret Chin is on record supporting the plan.
It is sickening & perverse when @NYCMayor & @CM_MargaretChin wants to treat felons better than combat veterans, it’s a jail not a resort. @NYCComptroller @nytimes @nypost @LESdwellers @NYDailyNews @NYGovCuomo @nycveterans @DeptVetAffairs
— Karlin Chan 陳家齡 (@Karlin_C) August 5, 2018
Supporters of the jail plan say this is a step forward towards badly needed prison reform.
“We are fundamentally changing the way detention happens…Those principles require space,” said Stanley Richards of the Fortune Society.
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RE: Opposition builds against Plan to Put Jail in Chinatown: De Blasio hates Asians because he thinks they bullied his son at Brooklyn tech. It would make sense given all his anti Asian policies since his reign.