Amsterdam News

“Mayor Adams is also questioning the plan to close Rikers now, saying that he expects the jail population to increase instead of shrink. With the return to broken windows policing, his massive cuts to social services, and his frequent fear-mongering, he’s worked hard to make his prediction come true.” - Edwin Santana, Freedom Agenda 

Gothamist

“Darren Mack, Freedom Agenda co-director, said its network of advocates for incarcerated people hoped Mayor Eric Adams would work with the commission on its goals.”

The City

"[The process of] getting a video visit was a nightmare,’” Melissa Vergara [a member advocate with our Freedom Agenda project], whose son was locked up on Rikers last year, told THE CITY. “They’d [DOC] always cancel them. They’d alway say we don’t have enough staff.”

NY Daily News

“‘This is what happens when DOC is allowed to operate a penal colony with little to no oversight, and yet another reason to accelerate the closure of Rikers Island,’” said Darren Mack of Freedom Agenda."

Hunts Point Express

“Darren Mack, co-director of Freedom Agenda, also released a statement last month that the city should halt any considerations of housing asylum seekers on The Boat or Rikers Island.”

NY Daily News

“‘The people incarcerated at Rikers are at a grave risk of immediate harm’ This declaration by Manhattan Federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain, tasked with deciding whether or not to strip control of Rikers Island from New York City, is an affirmation of a truth groups like Freedom Agenda have long known to be self-evident: Rikers Island is beyond repair.”

AM NY

"We need to invest in housing, mental health treatment, and other services to support people in our communities, improve safety, and keep people out of Rikers. And we have to close that death camp down quickly,” said Freedom Agenda Co-Director Darren Mack."

NY Daily News

“‘Rikers Island continues to kill our neighbors and traumatize our communities and somehow Mayor Adams thinks this is a path we should continue on?’ said Darren Mack of Freedom Agenda.”

Queens Eagle

“Sarita Daftary, the co-director of Freedom Agenda, blamed the mayor and his administration’s policies – including the NYPD’s recent increase in issuing criminal summonses and budget cuts that have led to the elimination of social services intended to keep people out of the criminal justice system – for Rikers’ ballooning population. “