Senior Staff Attorney Melissa Iachan testified before the NYC Planning Commission in support of a proposal to amend the City’s official zoning map to designate Rikers Island as a “Public Place”. This designation would prohibit the City and the Department of Corrections from continuing to utilize the Island for Corrections purposes, detaining individuals in jail facilities there, after January 1, 2027.

Melissa’s testimony was in further support of NYLPI’s integral work with the Renewable Rikers coalition, and she was one of almost a dozen representatives of that coalition who spoke on the record in support of the amendment, but also noting the importance that the Island’s future use be to the benefit of directly impacted communities by investing in a renewable infrastructure hub, and creating good green jobs.