bitfriend6 t1_ivg033u wrote on November 7, 2022 at 6:21 PM

That's nice but all it'll do is move the jail and it's problems from NYC to Buffalo or Rochester where the inmates can be fully forgotten about and, due to the distance, never return. Greenwashing a former prison as an "energy hub" is NIMBYism, as there's so many other places within NYC for an "energy hub" but locals don't want it and the amount of net prisoners will remain constant but will happen in the other part of New York where rich people don't live.

Which speaks to the other admission: new "waste" services will be included in this "energy" hub, this is an excuse to rebuild the city's sewage and trash collection system. This is certainly a good thing and Rikers is a good option for it, but let's not pretend like it's green. This will be a literal trash island with 200+ trucks servicing it daily, as there's no plans for rail service (even though this would be enormously good!). It is going to be dirty, polluted, and filthy just like the nearby airport. City leaders shouldn't be misleading people about what this is.

jamrealm t1_ivgjmoy wrote on November 7, 2022 at 8:27 PM

>all it'll do is move the jail and it's problems

The point of closing that specific jail is indeed to not have that specific jail anymore. Doesn't seem like a problem to me.

>Greenwashing a former prison as an "energy hub" is NIMBYism

Putting it on Riker's will let the city decommission other, older waste facilities which are (shocker) in low-income neighborhoods.

>as there's so many other places within NYC for an "energy hub"

Where do you think it should be instead?

And what do you think Riker's island should be used for?

>This is certainly a good thing and Rikers is a good option for it, but let's not pretend like it's green.

Except it is green. Don't let the enemy of progress be perfection.

>This will be a literal trash island with 200+ trucks servicing it daily

Those trucks are going to exist whether Riker's island is used or not.

QuanHitter t1_ivg6fp9 wrote on November 7, 2022 at 7:01 PM

I agree with everything you said, except for the shameless LaGuardia slander at the end. Put some goddamn respect on our airport's name

bitfriend6 t1_ivg7xjt wrote on November 7, 2022 at 7:11 PM

All airports are dirty, there's no avoiding it, and LaGuardia isn't any worse than say Liberty or Midway or Stapleton. I don't have anything against LaGuardia but it's not green, and expecting the thing under it's approach pattern to be green is a big misrepresentation of what Rikers Is. is capable of.

What's planned for Rikers is needed, although I'd go much further ie moving the nearby Produce Terminal and ConEd facilities around - things that work well with new rail - but none of this is green. Though, at that point a whole LaGuardia/GCP reconfiguration should also be considered as it's a common complaint, especially if LIRR or subway expansion is considered. Turning Prison Island into Infrastructure Island is a good idea, but it's not going to be environmentalist. It's going to be a big dirty thing full of big dirty machines that preform some function normally done in the Bronx or Brooklyn.

685327592 t1_ivg7hkp wrote on November 7, 2022 at 7:08 PM

They aren't moving the inmates anywhere, they are moving to not house pre-trial detainees at all. The few that they will still house are going to he moved to a new 50 story jail in Manhattan.