ADVISORY: NYC DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION IS SUSPENDING IN-PERSON VISITS EFFECTIVE WEDNESDAY MARCH 18TH • In light of the ongoing spread of COVID-19, out of an abundance of caution, and in an effort to protect the health and safety of those who live and work on Rikers Island and other city jail facilities, DOC is suspending in-person visits beginning Wednesday, … For more than two centuries, the Rycken family held the rights to the land. “Nothing symbolizes those failed policies in this city more than Rikers Island.”, [Read more: N.Y.C. For more events, see the going-out guides from The Times’s culture pages. ADVISORY: NYC DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION IS SUSPENDING IN-PERSON VISITS EFFECTIVE WEDNESDAY MARCH 18 TH. How hard is it to get a time slot? Rikers is a place of hardened criminals and luckless drug addicts; men with AIDS, women with babies, people with a future that often means a return to Rikers. Copyright © 2021 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), all rights reserved. Director: Steven Zaillian | Stars: John Turturro, Riz Ahmed, Michael Kenneth Williams, Bill Camp. Rikers Island itself is home to the biggest jail in New York City and one of the world’s largest correctional and mental institutions. “What are you going to do if you end up with 5,000 people?”. Welcome to the DOC’s Virtual Visitors’ Center. You can also find it at nytoday.com. The Rikers complex, which sits in the East River near La Guardia Airport, will be replaced by four smaller jails, one each in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 p.m. Sunday. “For decades, this city and this country’s answer to every societal problem was to throw people in jail,” Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker, said on Wednesday. The other spent a year at Rikers in the 1980s as a detainee awaiting trial and is today a national criminal justice reform advocate. I've visited two hundred correction facilities around the country and I can tell you, Rikers is every jail; and every jail is Rikers. RIKERS is a production of Schumann Media Center, Inc. and Brick City TV LLC in association with Public Square Media, Inc. In light of the ongoing spread of COVID-19, out of an abundance of caution, and in an effort to protect the health and safety of those who live and work on Rikers Island and other city jail facilities, DOC is suspending in-person … He broke into a smile. Noon. | Video has closed captioning. Collectively, the jails will hold about 3,300 prisoners daily. Here’s the sign-up.]. Your report has been successfully submitted. AP. Most prisoners in New York City are housed at the Rikers Island jail complex, a 400-acre island in the East River. “Being exposed to thousands and thousands of stories makes you realize that everyone does have a story.”. Executive Editor, Bill Moyers. Officials say New York’s declining crime rate makes the downsizing from about 7,000 inmates now at Rikers possible. [Free], Head to Pumpkin Point (a.k.a. New York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. Connections is an annual reentry resource guide, available to help people coming home after incarceration. I chuckled as Cinnamon hurried after him. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. One morning, I overheard a woman who was reaching out to pet Cinnamon asking the dog’s owner if she was friendly. Now Comes the Hard Part.]. Weather: Mostly sunny and cool today, with a high in the upper 50s and a stiff breeze at times. We’re experimenting with the format of New York Today. Check out our full coverage. We can remove the first video in the list to add this one. Rikers Island, one of the country’s most notorious correctional facilities, is closing. I told him I had named my puppy Cinnamon. They will also offer job training, mental health services and educational opportunities for inmates. Although Rikers Island technically falls within Bronx borough boundaries, it is under the jurisdiction of Queens Community Board 1, which voted unanimously in late January 2020 to advance the plan after holding the required public hearing under the ULURP process. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP G u a r d i a n s t a f f a n d a g e n c i e s Executive Producer, Judy Doctoroff O’Neill. One of us is a retired assistant deputy warden at Rikers Island with a 21-year career in correction. We encourage all to please visit our regularly updated Amazon Wish List! The woman stood there open-mouthed. What a nice name for a dog, I thought. Sort by. What we’re watching: Sam Roberts and Christine Quinn, the former City Council speaker, discuss Mayor de Blasio’s agenda for the next two years on “The New York Times Close Up With Sam Roberts.” The show airs tonight at 8 p.m., on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. [CUNY TV], City officials want a task force created to examine the surge in suicide attempt rates among black teens. Rikers Island was only 87.5 acres, so for the next couple decades, the city used prison labor to expand the island with ash and garbage to more than … RIKERS is a production of Schumann Media Center, Inc. and Brick City TV LLC in association with Public Square Media, Inc. As I hurried off to work I could hear him repeating: “Such a great name, such a great name.”. 7:30 p.m. [Free], Usher in the fall season with pumpkin decorating, obstacle courses and the L train brass band at the Harvest Festival on the Pier 6 lawns in Brooklyn. “Great name,” he said, giving me a thumbs-up. Keeping our community safe: Covid-19 Updates 13 March 2020. "Rikers"A documentary from filmmaker and journalist Bill Moyers, "Rikers" uses direct-to-camera interviews with inmates to depict life in on Rikers Island… Critics worry about what would happen if the city cannot reduce the number of inmates by more than half from today. When I got my new Pomeranian, a tiny ball of orange fur, I knew right away what I was going to name her. The next time I saw Cinnamon and her owner, I waved. The City Council approved plans on Thursday to close Rikers, a jail complex with nearly 10,000 beds, by 2026. . He’s been doing it for over a decade. An aerial view of Rikers Island. To understand the human toll of this crisis, Rikers Island is a good place to start. Mayor de Blasio called the project “a historic opportunity to change course and recognize the dignity of the individuals and communities that have had their humanity overlooked for far too long.”. Closing Rikers, supporters say, is a momentous step forward for New York. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. [Free], Listen to 24 sets from more than 70 musicians over 24 hours at the Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. [Daily News], Dance it out to a lineup of DJs at “Papi Juice Vol. The closing marks the latest step in a national movement to improve jail systems and to reverse years of mass incarceration that supporters of the plans say disproportionately affected black and Hispanic people, my colleague Matthew Haag reports. What would you like to see more (or less) of? It is meant to supplement, not replace, in-person visits. FILE - A file photo of the Rikers Island jail complex, which is run by the city Department of Correction. Before you submit an error, please consult our Troubleshooting Guide. I've never seen a film like this before—it is the raw truth of what it is like to be on Rikers Island. –Reader at Rikers Island jail At Correctional Services, we rely heavily on donated books. Rikers Island (/ ˈ r aɪ k ər z /) is a 413.17-acre (167.20-hectare) island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that is home to New York City's main jail complex. Nolan Park) for a patch featuring crafts and over 5,000 pumpkins on Governors Island in Manhattan. Thank you for helping us improve PBS Video. It’s Friday. “I’m not.”. Votes to Close Rikers. Others question the use of city funds. “To reduce exposure for COVID-19, [the Department of Correction] will suspend in-person visitation beginning Wednesday, March 18,” City Hall officials said. The MTA's Q100 bus goes over the Rikers Island Bridge and stops directly in front of the Rikers Island Central Visit House. The United States is facing a crisis of mass incarceration with over 2.2 million people packed into its jails and prisons. From celebrating love found later in life to remembering a beloved doorman, the Modern Love column (and podcast and newsletter and anthology) is taking its treasured love stories to the screen. Officials say the new jails will be safer, smaller and more humane. How is the service? The New York Times column turned TV series premieres today on Amazon Prime Video. Events are subject to change, so double-check before heading out. Log in or sign up to leave a comment Log In Sign Up. They tell their compelling stories direct to the camera, revealing the violent arc of the Rikers experience – from the trauma of entry to extortion and control by inmates, to oppressive corrections officers, violence and solitary confinement. Copy a link to this video to your clipboard, RIKERS is a production of Schumann Media Center, Inc. and Brick City TV LLC in association with Public Square Media, Inc. Produced by Marc Levin and Mark Benjamin, with producer … The Department is excited to announce televisits: a new way for loved ones to connect individuals in our custody and care during COVID-19. Rikers Island is among the world's largest jails - it is perched on a 413 acre (167 hectare) island between Queens and the Bronx and holds about 7,000 inmates, down from more than 20,000 at … Produced by Marc Levin and Mark Benjamin, with producer …More. The process of narrowing it down was layered and tedious, but Daniel Jones, the editor of the column and a consulting producer for the series, knows this process of elimination well. 100% Upvoted. We can remove the first show in the list to add this one. The city is also trying to roll out its new “televisit initiative,” allowing people in jail to video conference with people on the outside. Rikers Island: The Closing of the Notorious Jail, Explained. Break free into the weekend. Connections: A Free Guide for Formerly Incarcerated People. Want more news? The new network of detention centers would establish the city as a jail-reform leader. Vidal Guzman was 16 years old when he entered Rikers Island jail for the first time. [$60], Bring your pup to the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade at the East River Park Amphitheater in Manhattan. I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with the new televisit system in NYC Jails, specifically facilities on Rikers Island. As he crossed the bridge over to the island, a prison guard told him to "get ready for Gladiator School". As someone who spent time on Rikers as a young person, I … 50: Papi Dreams” at Elsewhere in Brooklyn. Awaiting his formal arraignment at Rikers Island, Naz realizes that his survival, or perhaps his demise, rests with an inmate named Freddy Knight, while Stone is double crossed. Osborne's offices are currently closed to the public. The total project is expected to cost $8 billion. He squinted. We continue to provide services to as many of our participants as possible through the use of technology and other safe practices. Having Someone In … James Herriot’s adventures as a veterinarian in 1930’s Yorkshire get a new TV adaptation. Rikers Island, one of the country’s most notorious correctional facilities, is closing.The City Council approved plans on Thursday to close Rikers, a … 10 a.m.-6 p.m. [Free]. Supposedly named after Abraham Rycken, who bought the island in 1664, the island was originally under 100 acres (40 ha) in size, but has since grown to more than 400 acres (160 ha). Use one of the services below to sign in to PBS: You've just tried to add this video to My List. “This way, Cinnamon,” her owner would call out. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Post a comment or email us: nytoday@nytimes.com. “There are ways that I had started to feel burned out, too, and this has just made it so interesting in so many different ways.”. Closed Captioning. The eight-episode series is inspired by eight stories out of 700-plus essays published over the years. Many see Rikers Island as “synonymous with brutality, incompetence, corruption and neglect,” as this page once described it. The series boasts a noteworthy lineup — like Dev Patel, Tina Fey, John Slattery and Anne Hathaway — as people juggling complicated circumstances of love in all its different forms. At a peak during the crack epidemic of the 1990s, city jails had nearly 23,000 daily inmates. RIKERS is a production of Schumann Media Center, Inc. and Brick City TV LLC in association with Public Square Media, Inc. [Want to get New York Today by email? Others, including the prison abolitionist group No New Jails NYC, believe the funds should not go to building new jails at all and instead should be diverted to neighborhood services. Problems Playing Video? Votes: 3,109 Televisit, located at the BPL Central Library branch, is a shared video feed between Rikers Island and BPL where inmates and families participate in a shared family literacy program. 0 comments. Rikers Island Prisoners Are Being Offered PPE and $6 an Hour to Dig Mass Graves New York City owns and operates a public cemetery on Hart Island, which has been tended by prison labor. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. Rikers, which has 10,000 beds, is a 400-acre jail complex located on an island in the middle of the East River, between Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. It is also working on setting up a televisit program so people can speak with inmates using their computer or mobile device. “I think it’s been a good reminder to me that life is limited and the relationships in your life are the most important,” said Miya Lee, the projects assistant who helps produce the Modern Love and Tiny Love Stories columns. Some believe that it would have been much less expensive to simply make repairs to the current facility. save. Lots of sun on Saturday, giving way to some clouds on Sunday; highs both days in the low 60s. Alternate-side parking: In effect until Monday (Shemini Atzeret). hide. The Rikers complex counts 10 jails on an island between Queens and the Bronx that mainly houses inmates awaiting trial. Produced by Marc Levin and Mark Benjamin, with producer Rolake Bamgbose. 11 p.m. [$20], Join the author of “Who Put This Song On?” for a conversation at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn. report. To schedule a televisit, please complete the form below. Produced by Marc Levin and Mark Benjamin, with producer …. Rikers Island The history of Rikers Island can be traced to the Dutch colonial occupation of modern-day New York City.In the 1630's, the merchant Abraham Rycken legally bought this small island that was pristine and uninhabited. “I don’t trust the numbers,” said Elias Husamudeen, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association. Report a Problem | Televisit Request Form. share. Special | 56m 40s Fewer know that it was once directly associated with slavery. This film from Bill Moyers is the first documentary to focus exclusively on people formerly detained in New York City's notorious Rikers Island Jail. “I’m just really glad that it has expanded into these other ways of presenting stories,” Mr. Jones said. “She is,” he said, starting to walk off. The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle. However, the Bronx borough president will have the ability to submit input. I used to run into Cinnamon every morning as I walked through Central Park on my way to my job in Midtown. You've just tried to add this show to My List. By creating an account, you acknowledge that PBS may share your information with our member stations and our respective service providers, and that you have read and understand the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Presenting stories, ” her owner would call out I had named my puppy Cinnamon an! Current facility from about 7,000 inmates now at Rikers Island jail complex, which is run by the can! Email us: nytoday @ nytimes.com city more than half from today $ 8.! Him I had named my puppy Cinnamon in this city more than two centuries, the family... A new way for loved ones to connect individuals in our custody and care COVID-19. “ Papi Juice Vol offices are currently closed to the Tompkins Square Halloween dog Parade at East! Forward for new York ’ s Virtual Visitors ’ Center seen a film like this is! Get a new way for loved ones to connect individuals in our custody and care COVID-19. 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