AM NY

"But former Rikers inmate Darren Mack of the Freedom Agenda, a nonprofit working to have the jail shut down on or before its scheduled closure in 2026, charged that “Pines was killed by a criminal legal system that has no regard for human life – from police, to courts, to DOC.”"

News 12

""The mayor knows what Rikers Island is about. He knows the culture of violence, he knows how it is, but they continue to look for ways to send people there. Close it, close it down. Shut it down today. There's no fixing it, there's no reforming it. It just needs to be shut down," said Edwin Santana, of Freedom Agenda."

NYU Review of Law and Social Change

"This testimony was written based on an interview with a person incarcerated at Rikers Island...It was presented at a New York City Board of Corrections meeting by Kristen Brown and Fleming Smith, students with the NYU Solitary Confinement Project, which works in partnership with the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project..."

City Limits

“Rikers Island is not a necessary institution. There are plans and legislation underway that will remove our neighbors and fellow New Yorkers off of Rikers and into a smaller system borough-based facilities. This would bring families closer to their loved ones, improve conditions for people detained, and end our over-reliance on incarceration.” - Hope Sanders, a member-organizer of Freedom Agenda.

Binghamton

"'There were such an understanding throughout the pandemic of … a lack of social safety net for so many, hundreds of thousands of workers, who are paying into the system, who are paying their taxes, but in moments of crisis, were unable to have any sort of social safety net, and so we’re looking beyond crisis right, we’re looking for a permanent alternative,” said Carina Gutierrez, Deputy Director at The Street Vendor Project."

Manhattan Times News

"Karim Walker of the [Safety Net Project of the] Urban Justice Center testified that landlords and brokers refuse to rent to prospective tenants with the vouchers, 'even though the money is basically guaranteed.'"

Broadway Stages

“'In some cases, the parents are not eating in order to ensure that whatever money there is for food is going to the children,' Adriana Mendoza, a benefits supervisor for the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center."

News 12

"Despite the Department of Corrections citing progress on some safety concerns, several groups came together today to rally once again for the closure of one of the city’s most controversial jails: Rikers Island. [Watch the video for coverage of the rally, including members of Freedom Agenda]"