Real Solutions Exist.
Social Justice & Public Safety Can Go Hand-in-Hand.
We are a multi-borough, multi-disciplinary, grassroots group of professionals, activists & community members who believe there are real & compassionate solutions to justice in New York City that are cost-effective and benefit everyone. We know it is possible.
First Initiative: A ‘Green’ Approach To Jails In NYC
Our first project is an alternative plan to the Mayor’s disastrous, cruel and profligate effort to build four borough-based mega tower jails in residential communities. To rehabilitate those in jail we need light, space and air which do not exist in concrete skyscrapers. Bad for those in the jail, bad for the communities around the jail.
In Summary
- More compassionate to the incarcerated integrating nature
- Costs considerably less
- Does not destroy neighborhoods
- Builds enough beds to accommodate BOTH crime decreases & increases
- Reduces travel time and personnel expense to courthouse
- Improves family access
Why Is The Mayor’s Plan to Close Riker’s Island Flawed?
$8.7b
low estimate cost for new mega jails, estimates put it much higher…
3,544
new beds available in the borough-based jails … yet current & historic need is closer to 5,000
300 ft
Size of the jail proposed at White St., Manhattan, making it as tall as The Statue of Liberty & tallest jail in world
Why do we know better?
We are politicians, architects, social justice activists, academics and, most importantly, New Yorkers who believe innovative solutions to social justice exist. Because there is no justice in destroying communities with decades of building work only to jail men and women in skyscrapers without access to nature.
Why is our plan better?
Our plan will cost half as much, not distract the day-to-day lives of communities struggling to recover from Covid-19. It will use our efficient ferry system to cut travel time in half and most importantly, it will offer light, air, green and open space to rehabilitate those in jail. Isn’t that real justice? Why is this plan not taken seriously?
Meet The Leadership Committee
Architect, BIALOSKY NEW YORK
Founding President, Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York
Construction Project Manager and Registered NYC Construction Superintendent
City Council Member, District 30, Queens
Candidate for City Council, District 1, Manhattan
Candidate for City Council, District 29, Queens
Did you know that nature can transform how we build jails? Attentional Restoration Theory (ART) is an influential framework first proposed by Kaplan and Kaplan that is proven to improve focus and sense of calm, making it a more compassionate approach to incarceration.
