Up Close: Proposal to shut down Rikers Island

NEW YORK (WABC) -- It is perhaps the most infamous city jail in the country. Rikers Island. An institution, and not always for the right reasons.

Controversial. Violence drenched. There have been calls to close it before. But nothing like the calls to close it now.

There is an official proposal to shut down Rikers. But what happens to all those inmates - 10,000 of them?

Where do they go if the island jail is shut down?

This week we talk with Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, long a proponent of criminal justice reform, for his take on closing Rikers and cutting back on prosecuting for many crimes that now put people behind bars.

Also with us are two of the authors of the report calling for Rikers to be shut down within the next ten years and open new jails, one in every borough, to house inmates.

Former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, now a counsel with Lathum and Watkins, and Glenn Martin, a former Rikers inmate and now an activist who has advocated for closing Rikers.



Many people are raising their hand to close Rikers, but one of those not raising their hand joins us: Elias Husa-Mudeen, President of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association.