Riker’s Island
| Rikers Island | |
|---|---|
(2004)
|
|
| Location | The Bronx, New York City |
| Nearest city | New York City |
| Coordinates | 40°47′28″N 73°52′58″W / 40.79111°N 73.88278°WCoordinates: 40°47′28″N 73°52′58″W / 40.79111°N 73.88278°W |
| Area | 413.17 acres (167.20 ha) |
| Established | 1932 |
| Governing body | New York City Department of Correction |
Rikers Island (/ˈraɪkərz/) is New York City's main jail complex, as well as the name of the 413.17-acre (167.204 ha) island on which it sits, on the East River between Queens and the mainland Bronx, adjacent to the runways of LaGuardia Airport. Supposedly named after Abraham Rycken who bought the island in 1664, the island is home to one of the world's largest correctional institutions and mental institutions and has been described as New York’s most famous jail. The island was originally under 100 acres (40 ha) in size, but has since grown over four times to more than 400 acres (160 ha). Much of the first stages of expansion was accomplished by convict labor hauling in ashes for landfill. The island itself is politically part of the Bronx, though it is included as part of Queens Community Board 1 and has a Queens ZIP code of 11370.
The jail complex, operated by the New York City Department of Correction, has a budget of $860 million a year, a staff of 9,000 officers and 1,500 civilians managing 100,000 admissions per year and an average daily population of 10,000 inmates. Approximately 85% of those detained at Rikers have not yet been convicted of a crime. These detainees are pretrial, either held on bail or remanded to custody. The rest of the population have been convicted and are serving short sentences. According to a study done in 2015 by Vera Institute of Justice, it costs the city approximately $209,000 to detain one person for one year at Rikers Island.
Rikers has a reputation for abuse and neglect of inmates, attracting increased media and judicial scrutiny that has resulted in numerous rulings against the New York City government. It is also notorious for numerous assaults by inmates on uniformed and civilian staff, resulting in often serious injuries, making Rikers Island one of the most dangerous places to work. In May 2013, Rikers Island ranked as one of the ten worst correctional facilities in the United States, based on reporting in Mother Jones magazine. Violence on Rikers Island has been increasing in recent years. In 2015 there were 9,424 assaults, the highest number in 5 years. On the other hand, murder is relatively rare on the island, with none recorded in 2015 or 2016.
...
Wikipedia