On Nov. 3, New York City finally said goodbye to Vernon C. Bain Center, better known as “The Boat.”
The 625-foot floating jail opened in 1992 due to the increasing rates of incarceration during the crack epidemic. Amidst the peak of the War on Drugs, the jail population in NYC skyrocketed to 22,000 people, and the boat was a temporary solution to combat Rikers Island’s severe overcrowding. When the overall population decreased to 18,000, The Boat was shut down; however, Rudy Giuliani– the 107th mayor of NYC –decided to reopen it in the late 1990s. The current jail population is just around 7,000, yet until recently people remained being held on the inhumane floating jail.
In 2019, New York City passed a bill to shut down all ten jails inhabiting Rikers Island and by extension, The Boat by Aug. 31, 2027. Rikers Island and The Boat are commonly mistaken as a prison or a jail, but it is actually a compound of 10 jails with 14,700 beds. 90% of the population at Rikers are people awaiting trial and presumably innocent, who cannot afford bail. 90% of the population are also Black or Latinx, as Black people are jailed at almost 12 times the rate of white people in NYC.
The plan was constructed by formerly incarcerated people and their families, grassroots organizations, the most harmed communities, faith leaders, and service providers. They are working towards complete closure but also “decarceration, defending the rights of incarcerated people, and divestment & redistribution” of funds allotted.
Since Mayor Eric Adams has taken office, 32 people have died due to the inhumane conditions, adding to the overall number of preventable deaths caused by the Department of Correction’s (DOC) continuous neglect.
Freedom Agenda is a “a member-led project, dedicated to organizing people and communities directly impacted by incarceration to achieve decarceration and system transformation.” They helped propose the plan, continue to plan community actions, and are spearheading the movement to close Rikers Island and the Boat.
Freedom Agenda is also working alongside Renewable Rikers to create the Renewable Rikers Act. This act calls for the transfer of land from the DOC to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, and for them to create a plan for “sustainability and resiliency purposes, including wastewater treatment, renewable energy generation and storage, and off-shore wind converter stations.”
Freedom Agenda is also waiting for NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to follow through on his claims to shut down Rikers. The Freedom Agency sent a five question questionnaire to all three of the main mayoral candidates: Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa. Out of the three, only Mamdani replied. In one of his responses he states: “We [New York City] have not sufficiently invested in alternatives to incarceration, and our courts have taken that lack of investment as a cue to continue shuffling people to Rikers…My administration will change that. We will push the courts and DAs to pursue accountability while fully utilizing alternatives to incarceration as much as possible, invest in supportive housing, champion sentencing reform, and expand restorative justice processes.” All eyes will be on his first 100 days in office to see if he complies. To join the campaign to shut down Rikers, follow Freedom Agenda on Instagram, sign up for their newsletter, sign their campaign on behalf of any organization you are a part of, and sign a letter to the mayor demanding the closure.