NY Amsterdam News

In effect, as protesters take to the streets to close that “hell hole,” the cry of “Rikers equals death” has gained resonance, particularly after Freedom Agenda member Crystal Clarke voiced her demands at City Hall Park earlier this month. “I am here to let the elected officials know that our loved ones are on Rikers Island, and they do not deserve to feel as though they are cast away and out of sight and mind. They are being pushed to their limits mentally and physically every day. If our mayor, governor, judges, and DAs do not decarcerate they will contribute to the demise of hundreds of people.” Clarke herself is the partner of a person incarcerated on Rikers Island.

AM NY

“The next Mayor will inherit the human rights catastrophe on Rikers and The Boat. But they will also inherit a plan to close them led by survivors of Rikers. They will either be the Mayor who implements this plan and erases that stain on NYC once for all; or the only mayor in the history of this City who took office with a plan to close Rikers in place but made a choice to leave it open. We won’t allow that,” said Darren Mack, co-director of Freedom Agenda."

Queens Daily Eagle

“We believe more transfers can be made even before the end of the administration,” said Darren Mack, co-director of Freedom Agenda in the Urban Justice Center “The Mayor is not listening to the [officials] who call for decarceration and chose to listen to the police commissioner, who is basically lying to the public about the crime surge and connection to bail reform and COVID releases; due to that lack of courage to correct, the mayor is losing the opportunity to transfer buildings and more land to DCAS.”

NY Amsterdam News

Peggy Herrera has worked for a major city agency that caters to troubled youth for the past six years. Herrera’s 23-year-old son, who she said would prefer to go by the name “Justin,” was medically diagnosed with anxiety and attention-deficit disorder when he was 6-years-old. Justin also traumatically lost his father at age 7. Herrera said that her son was arrested at 11-years-old by school safety agents because of a bag with brass knuckles in it, and that was the beginning of him being “criminalized” in the system.

Chelsea News

Mack, who is a survivor of Rikers and a vehement activist in attempting to have the facility shut down, called the mayor’s response an “unacceptable betrayal of his promise to close Rikers and to implement the Renewable Rikers vision,” referring to de Blasio’s “failed approaches” to solving the crisis by expanding use of the jail and the role of the NYPD. Mack also called attention to the issue of judges and District Attorneys being allowed to “make a person’s freedom dependent on their wealth by setting bail amounts that function as ransom.”

PR Newswire

Change.org and New York-based community foundation, North Star Fund, announced more than 35 Black-led organizations across the United States that will receive grant funding from Change.org's $5.5 million Racial Justice Fund... The grant recipients [including the Freedom Agenda of the Urban Justice Center] work on the frontlines of Racial Justice to disrupt anti-black racism and empower communities of color.”

City Limits

“We’ve had stories of people telling us they’ve had to bend down and put their lips on the ground to suck air from under the door because it’s so hot and humid inside those cells that they’re literally sucking for cold air from the door from any cracks they can find,” said Brandon Holmes, of the Urban Justice Center.

WNYC

Freedom Agenda & MOCJ Task Force member Marco Barrios: "Most of the people that go to the city jails have a trauma, so they’re being re-traumatized because of the punitive model they have in place right now. And I lived that experience at one point, so I know firsthand about it. As a member of Freedom Agenda, we’ve tried to close Rikers Island to make sure there’s also accountability and oversight, and those things are lacking right now."

Queens Daily Eagle

"COBA's leadership has convinced themselves that officers should not be held accountable for failing to report to work or demonstrating callous neglect for incarcerated people while there, and the mayor has shamefully let them act accordingly,” said Darren Mack, co-director of Freedom Agenda. “COBA has also taken every opportunity to argue for more incarceration.”