STATEMENT FROM CAMPAIGN TO CLOSE RIKERS ON MAYOR MAMDANI’S APPOINTMENT OF CLOSE RIKERS CZAR

Today, Mayor Mamdani announced his appointment of Dana Kaplan to the position of Close Rikers Czar. In response, the Campaign to Close Rikers issued the following statement:

“In this moment, the urgency of appointing the Close Rikers Czar cannot be overstated. This is another critical step forward in the effort to shutter the jails on Rikers for good, and we applaud the Mayor for moving this appointment forward. It is essential to have a person at City Hall who will bring the whole-of-government approach to closing Rikers. We look forward to working with Ms. Kaplan to ensure that the City is using every tool at its disposal to deliver on the legal and moral mandate to transition off Rikers, and into smaller borough-based jails on the fastest possible timeline.”

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