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NYC's infamous Rikers Island jail complex will soon close. The New York City Council voted 36-13 to shut it down by 2026. Rikers has been plagued by years of documented inmate abuse, both psychological and physical, in the form of excessive force. There was also a documented system of cover ups by guards on various instances of misconduct in addition to an unnecessary overuse of solitary confinement.
"I learned why they call Rikers Island 'Torture Island' and I learned why they call Rikers Island "Gladiator School.'" — Activist and former Rikers Island detainee Vidal Guzman explains. Guzman has organized with the #CLOSErikers campaign for 3+ years. He spent years of his youth in Rikers, including in solitary confinement.
Recently, New York City has seen a growing number of stories related to gangs-related crimes. It's sparking several projects aimed at ridding NYC of gangs for good. But… Who are the people the NYPD call gangsters?
A March 15, 2022 rally by the #FixThe13thNY campaign, led by Vidal Guzman, was featured in both PIX11 evening news. The rally, entitled “End Convict Leasing 2.0,” took place at New York City’s historic Foley Square and specifically protested New York State Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposal to allow private corporations to employ incarcerated people—a practice currently banned under the State Constitution—and garnish half of wages earned.
JUVENILE JUSTICE INFORMATION EXCHANGE : “JOURNEY TO PASSION : “ YOUNG MAN LOCKED UP AT RIKERS HELPS ORGANIZER TO CLOSE IT.”
4/25/2018
Guzman first went to Rikers at 16.
Standing in front of the podium, Guzman spoke of the way Rikers has stolen the fathers, sons and brothers of the minority communities. He spoke with the passion of someone who experienced the violence and trauma of incarceration at a young age. His main goal was to convince everyone gathered around him, the importance of closing Rikers and keeping young men and women out of jail. Although he is now rallying against Rikers, Guzman’s time in there showed him that it is not a solution for any person in society, muchless a young teenage boy.
“There’s no way you should send any individual that’s 16 or 17 years old to jail or think that that is the way to solve a problem,” Guzman said.
CITY & STATE NEW YORK: “KIDS CAN’T SURVIVE THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION”
9/25/2018
This fall, as New York’s Raise the Age law goes into effect, detained teens will be moved from the Rikers Island jail complex to two juvenile detention facilities: Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn and Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx. The New York City Department of Correction is sending hundreds of officers to those facilities to oversee these kids.
Why is the DOC being trusted after creating a well-documented culture of violence that has harmed so many young people at Rikers?
I was on Rikers when I was 16 and 17 years old. Before that, I never knew kids were put on Rikers. I never knew why they called Rikers Island “torture island.” I never knew how the culture of violence was created or who was a part of it.
But I found out. I entered Rikers in 2007. The hallway walls were lit bright red and a loud alarm rang through the Robert N. Davoren Complex. As the correction officer walked me to my housing block, he told me the “red alarm” meant there was a fight happening in the building. It rang every hour.
Non Profit Quarterly: “Labor Rights for all Must Include Incarcerated People”
10/4/2021
After a long, dreadful week of working the mess hall, Vidal Guzman received a paycheck totaling $3.50. With it, he was able to purchase only four items—toothpaste, two packs of soup, and a single postage stamp. He had initially protested being stationed to work the mess hall, but they gave him an ultimatum, it was either that or he could go back to solitary confinement. Anyone who has spent a considerable amount of time jailed in complete isolation for 23 hours a day can tell you that it is pure torture. People often hallucinate and, in extreme cases, face irreversible mental damage. For Guzman, who spent two and a half years in solitary altogether, going back was not an option. He surrendered to the forced labor of the mess hall and its abysmal wages, just one of many dehumanizing factors of a prison system designed to enrich corporations at the expense of the incarcerated.
Gotham Gazette “AS WE FIGHT FOR FUTHER DECARCERATION AND MORE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT, THE PLAN TO CLOSE RIKERS MUST MOVE AHEAD”
9/5/2019
As an organizer directly impacted by incarceration, I often ask fellow New Yorkers that have been previously incarcerated to imagine what it would feel and look like for our communities to have the resources we need to remain in our neighborhoods and thrive.Our work will solidify New York City as the most decarcerated big city in the U.S. We have done the difficult work of significantly decarcerating New York City and State, forcing the city to shrink the jails system from 12 citywide to four borough-based facilities with improved conditions. Based on pretrial reforms we achieved at the state level, the city has also planned to reduce jail capacity from approximately 15,000 to 4,600 people — officials are estimating the city’s jail population can soon reach 4,000 and we are pushing to reduce that to less than 3,000 in the coming years.
The mayor has answered our demands with his proposed jails plan, which should be passed by the City Council, while improving the plan by supporting our push for further decarceration, a faster route to decarceration, facilities that respect people’s dignity and provide the resources and services every person deserves, and an end to the Department of Correction’s reign of terror.
CBC Radio Station “Vidal Guzman first landed at Rikers Island when he was 16 years old.”
10/29/19
In the years he served for after being convicted as an adult for robbery and drug offences, he quickly learned why the New York City jail complex is known as "Torture Island" and "The Oven."
Dozens of detainees have died while incarcerated and investigations have shown widespread abuses of detainees.
But now, decades after it first opened, the jail is set to shut down. New York City council voted Oct. 21 to close Rikers Island by the year 2026 and replace it with four new jails in the city.
Guzman, who has been campaigning to close Rikers Island for years, spoke to As It Happens host Carol Off about the decision. Here is part of their conversation.