TESTIMONY
Sarita Daftary, Co-Director of Freedom Agenda, on Advocating for Closing Rikers Island and Reallocating Funds
6:18:50
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158 sec
Sarita Daftary, Co-Director of Freedom Agenda, testifies on the financial and humanitarian issues of Rikers Island, highlighting the need for its closure and reallocating funds.
- Daftary emphasizes that New York City spends 350% more per incarcerated person than similar jail systems in Los Angeles or Chicago.
- She criticizes Mayor Adams for not aligning the city's budget with the obligation to close Rikers Island by 2027, highlighting proposed cuts to crucial services.
- Urges the council to reduce the Department of Correction's uniform headcount and restore funding for alternatives to incarceration and supportive housing.
- Advocates for reallocating funds towards housing and mental health needs, reinforcing the moral and financial justification for closing Rikers Island.
Sarita Daftary
6:18:50
Good afternoon.
6:18:51
Chair Brandon, deputy speaker Ayala.
6:18:53
Thank you the opportunity to testify.
6:18:55
My name is Serena Daffery, and I'm co director of Freedom Magenta.
6:18:58
We're led by our members who have experienced incarceration themselves or through a loved one.
6:19:02
We're one of the organizations leading the campaign to close records, and I'm glad to testify here today is certainly along with this panel.
6:19:09
The council heard the administration makes several disingenuous arguments today about for excuses for extending the financial and humanitarian disaster that is Rikers Island.
6:19:19
So as we move through the process of setting budget priorities to ensure the best use of our city's resources, I'm glad to be here today to emphasize that Ryker's Island stands out as the worst possible use of our dollars.
6:19:30
New York City spends 350% more per incarcerated person than a comparable jail systems in LA or Chicago, and yet people in DOC custody are subjected to some of the worst shale conditions in the nation.
6:19:42
DOC's failures and inefficiencies are by now well known.
6:19:44
They are even more egregious when considering what DOC's vast resources could pay for instead.
6:19:49
Incarcerating one person at Rikers Island for a year costs over a half a $1,000,000 of equivalent to providing supportive housing for 13 people.
6:19:57
We're engaging between 25 and 70 people in alternatives to incarceration.
6:20:01
The plan to close Rikers Island approved by this council in 2019 marked a commitment to take a different and much more effective approach to public safety.
6:20:09
This also requires spending our money differently.
6:20:11
But mayor Adams has refused to align our city's budget with the legal and moral obligation to close Ryker's Island by 2027.
6:20:16
He's proposing serious cuts to alternatives to incarceration and reentry services, and failing to adequately fund supportive housing and community based mental health treatment.
6:20:25
I'll skip a little bit down in my testimony.
6:20:27
I hope you will read the piece about the experience of our members.
6:20:30
Has a son who's been on micros for more than 3 years.
6:20:33
Costing him dearly and costing us financially.
6:20:36
So I wanna summarize close by just saying that we are urging the council to intervene.
6:20:41
We know the council supported closing records.
6:20:43
And to make that real through this budget, we need to reduce DOC's uniform head count to about 51100 officers by eliminating vacancies and holding staff accountable for chronic absenteeism.
6:20:53
We need to reduce overtime expenses by permanently closing unused jails.
6:20:57
We need to restore 27,800,000 dollars to the office of criminal justice for justice for alternatives to incarceration, supervised release, and reentry programs, allocate an additional 21,000,000 to meet critical housing and mental health needs.
6:21:10
I'll note that that's about 1 month worth of DOCs overtime, so certainly we can afford it.
6:21:15
And we need to increase the board of Corrections head count in proportion to DOC's head count.
6:21:19
The council has reaffirmed its commitment to closing wakers, and that must be backed up by a budget that strengthens our communities to improve safety, reduce incarceration, and get Rikers closed.
6:21:28
Thank you.