Speaker Mark-Viverito's Plan to Close Rikers Island

The Brian Lehrer Show | Feb 16, 2016

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito talked about her recent State of the City address, which focused on criminal justice reform and proposals to end unnecessary stays in Rikers Island for those arrested on low-level offenses.

These reforms, she said, are stepping stones on the path to shut down Rikers Island, for good.

"The idea here is to get the population so small that we could get to a community-based approach," said Mark-Viverito, outlining her proposal to eventually replace Rikers with five borough jails.

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