A year from now, Rikers Island will still be open, despite a 2019 City Council law mandating that the jail be closed by Aug. 31, 2027. The deadline will be missed. The law will be broken. That law must be amended before then.

It was a reasonable enough target once upon a time, but the year after the law was passed saw a global pandemic that shut down society and saw crime jump up significantly. But the city itself is not absolved of all fault; siting the four borough-based jails (a responsibility that Staten Island for some reason was allowed to wriggle out of) took an eternity, with city officials too deferential to predictable local opposition.

None of these facilities designed to replace Rikers are slated to be completed, not only by next year, but for a couple of years........

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