Low blow: Pols, activists slam city for borough-based jail plan due to high number of inmates

Originally published in Brooklyn Paper

 

They need to try harder!

The city must reduce the number of incarcerated people it plans to move into borough-based jails as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to close Rikers Island, attendants of an April 11 Community Board 2 meeting said.

Hizzoner’s plan to close down the beleaguered jail complex, reduce the incarcerated population from currently just under 8,000 people to 5,000, and relocate them to four borough-based jails should aim for a lower number of inmates, given the recently-passed reforms to the justice system in Albany, according to one state legislator.

“For those of you who think we don’t need any new jails, we sure don’t need the one in Brooklyn to double in size,” said state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (D-Boerum Hill). “Whatever else your plan does and doesn’t include, it should not include a 40-story building, or even a 36 one.”

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