New York’s quest to replace the troubled Rikers Island jail complex with smaller facilities across the five boroughs could lead to either hazardous overcrowding or the release of dangerous detainees, according to a Dec. 1 report from the conservative Manhattan Institute.
In a Nov. 30 interview with The Epoch Times, the report’s author, Manhattan Institute fellow Charles Fain Lehman, said New York City has been reducing its jail population for years.
“They’ve run out of low-hanging fruit. Now they need to start releasing serious offenders if they want to keep cutting the population,” he said.
New York City is already experiencing significant increases in serious offenses. As of August 2022, major crimes were up 36 percent year over year, as reported by the New York Post. Felonies on the city’s subways through October increased 40 percent over last year, according to the same source….