Criminal justice advocates have been campaigning to shut down Rikers Island for decades, but they may be about to gain an unlikely ally: the real estate industry. The 413-acre island offers a rare opportunity in a city where land is a scarcity.
Though a number of development ideas have already been floated (including converting it into an extra runway for LaGuardia Airport), the full range of possibilities will be explored by a committee headed by MaryAnne Gilmartin, CEO of Forest City Ratner. The committee’s report will be made public in spring 2017.
If Rikers Island is sold, however, it wouldn’t be the city’s first redevelopment of a prison.
To see the full story and some other examples of converted NYC prisons, watch the video above.
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