Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials said they envision more humane settings that would feature community space, ground-floor retail outlets and offices for inmate support services. A proposal for a Bronx facility even calls for rezoning a portion of the site to allow for development of affordable housing. “We’re taking a big step forward in the process of closing Rikers Island and creating a modern community-based jail system that is smaller, safer and fairer,” De Blasio said in a statement announcing details of the plan. The remake of the city jail system still faces an extensive public review process and uncertainty about its ultimate cost. They said the lower inmate populations have made dismantling the complex and replacing it with the smaller facilities, each with 1,500 beds, more viable.

Source: National Post August 15, 2018 22:07 UTC