Plan calls on City to replace Rikers’ noxious infrastructure with solar energy installation, citywide wastewater treatment plant, recycling and composting complex, and a new research and training institute for formerly incarcerated individuals
NEW YORK, NY — As City officials plan for the jail complex’s closure by 2027, Regional Plan Association (RPA) and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) today unveiled a comprehensive plan to transform Rikers Island into a citywide green energy hub. The report, A Plan for Renewable Rikers, follows last year’s City Council vote to finally reimagine Rikers and outlines a vision to replace the island’s current facilities with a solar energy installation; recycling and composting infrastructure; a citywide wastewater treatment plant that would free up 182 acres of community space in Queens and the Bronx; and a new research and training institute that would provide educational and workforce development opportunities to individuals formerly incarcerated at Rikers.
“As Rikers Island descends deeper into crisis conditions, it is critical that we are prepared to hit the ground running on a new vision for its future,” said Moses Gates, RPA’s Vice President for Housing and Neighborhood Planning. “RPA is proud to build on the work of environmental and criminal justice advocates in presenting a plan to reimagine Rikers’ 400 acres as a green energy hub that strengthens the city’s resilience to climate change and delivers substantial community benefits—especially for the Black, Brown and poor New Yorkers who have borne the brunt of mass criminalization and noxious energy facilities. Following through on the vision for a renewable Rikers is a can’t miss opportunity for the City to reach its decarbonization goals while serving as a national model for climate-focused redistributive justice.”
“We have an opportunity to transform Rikers Island into a haven for education, training, and sustainability,” saidAndrea Johnson, Assistant Professor in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the Rhode Island School of Design. “The carefully thought out designs we’ve presented in this report show how the entire island can be activated as an energy hub for all of New York City, while freeing large swathes of neighboring boroughs from aging energy infrastructure.”
After decades of inhumane living conditions, deaths, and calls for reform, the New York City Council voted in 2021 to permanently close Rikers Island and transfer ownership of the island from the Department of Correction (DOC) to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS). With this transfer comes the opportunity to shift energy and waste infrastructure – currently located in neighborhoods surrounding the island in Queens and The Bronx – to Rikers itself, eliminating the severe health risks they pose and freeing up more space for potential community uses. Some of the energy and equity-focused proposals highlighted in the Renewable Rikers plan include:
Research and Training Institute: designed in collaboration with those most affected by Rikers, the Research and Training Institute will enable existing community organizations to help impacted individuals cultivate the education, skills, and tools necessary to become key stakeholders in the City’s climate transition.
Solar Energy Installation and Energy Storage: creating infrastructure on the island that will be able to generate 1,500 MW of energy storage and 275 MW of solar power. A hub for renewable energy on Rikers could phase out nearby peaker power plants and train residents for jobs in solar installation and repair.
Citywide Wastewater Treatment Plant: using Rikers as a location to consolidate four aging wastewater treatment plants with state-of-the-art technology, freeing up to 182 acres for community determined priorities and cleaning up local waterways.
Composting and Recycling Hub: building a new composting and recycling hub that is able to process over 365,000 tons of organic waste per year (34% of NYC’s total organic waste stream), generate green jobs, remove polluting trucks from the road, and activate urban ecologies.
“The Renewable Rikers vision was born out of conversations among directly impacted community members-- survivors of Rikers, their family members, and neighbors who identified the disproportionate exposure to pollution in their neighborhoods as yet another form of institutional racism and violence they had to survive. Together with environmental justice advocates, criminal justice reform groups, faith leaders and other allies, the voices of the most harmed demanding reparative justice is what made Renewable Rikers the law of our City. Today, the Renewable Rikers Coalition is thrilled to support the report released by RPA and RISD, which provides the opportunity to see how this vision can turn into a practical reality, and illustrate the incredible potential benefits for our City as a whole, and especially the opportunity to finally begin to repair the harm that Rikers, mass incarceration, and environmental racism has imposed onto too many New Yorkers to date. We look forward to utilizing this informative and intelligent report to continue our efforts to ensure that our City government focus on decarceration, decarbonization, and moving towards a fair, just and greener New York City.” said Melissa Iachan of the Renewable Rikers Coalition.
“As we move to close down the detention complex on Rikers, the City should ensure a positive, restorative vision of what the future of the island will look like. The jail facility has inflicted incalculable harm onto hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, and this plan transforms the island into a force for good. Re-envisioning the island as a place for renewable energy infrastructure is the embodiment of a just transition—where environmental justice prevails,” said Comptroller Brad Lander.
“RPA’s report today on Renewable Rikers Island is an exciting step forward in envisioning a just transition for the future of the island. The added vision for power production, wastewater recovery, anaerobic digestion and job creation drives the conversation forward helping reinforce the need to build this renewable energy hub. Renewable Rikers Island is an imperative for New York City that we cannot go back on. Thank you to the RPA for their efforts to create this report.” - said Costa Constantinides, former New York City Councilmember and sponsor the Renewable Rikers Act.
“When the City Council passed the Renewable Rikers legislation last year, it was with the strong support of broad and diverse constituencies who were excited by the idea of transforming the notorious Rikers jail complex from an island of shame into a showplace of sustainability and green jobs. Now, the Regional Plan Association has taken a thoughtful first cut at envisioning just how the island might look in the future, when the promise of Renewable Rikers is fulfilled. We hope this model further inspires the Adams Administration to move forward with timely implementation of the legislation, so that at end to incarceration on Rikers and a complete transformation of the island will become one of the Administration’s lasting legacies,” said Eric A. Goldstein, New York City Environment Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“This release of possible designs and uses for a Renewable Rikers helps us envision the potential historic transformation of Rikers Island after the jails close by the legal deadline of August 2027. Moving advanced sewage treatment and clean power generation to Rikers would not just help in the essential fight against climate change, it would free primarily Asian, Black, and Latinx communities from polluting, noxious plants that have burdened them for decades. We are grateful to RPA and RISD for their expert renderings of this vision,” said Zachary Katznelson, Executive Director of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform.
As part of its 2022 Richard Kaplan Chairs for Urban Design Fellowship, RPA commissioned this vision for how the design of a Renewable Rikers Island could look and function. This design is based on the vision of the Renewable Rikers coalition.
About the Renewable Rikers Coalition
The Renewable Rikers Coalition is an alliance of more than 40 diverse organizations representing people formerly incarcerated on Rikers and their families, communities impacted by environmental racism, and allied environmental and social justice not-for-profit groups from across all five boroughs.
About the J. M. Kaplan Fund
Established in 1945 by philanthropist and businessman Jacob Merrill Kaplan, the Fund has since its inception been committed to visionary innovation. Over its 75-year history, the Fund has devoted $250 million to propel fledgling efforts concerning civil liberties, human rights, the arts, and the conservation and enhancement of the built and natural worlds. With generous support from The J. M. Kaplan Fund, Regional Plan Association has established an endowed chair in honor of Richard Kaplan, a long-serving board member, inspiration, and friend. The Richard Kaplan Chair for Regional Design provides dedicated resources for a prominent urban designer to pursue innovative research and creative planning for the New York metropolitan region. During his long association with RPA, Richard Kaplan supported diverse projects, from the seed money to create the Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York and the Governors Island Alliance to a fact-finding trip to Copenhagen for the City’s Planning Chair and DOT Commissioner which yielded bold plans to remake New York City’s streets and public spaces for pedestrians and bicyclists. Richard’s devotion to outside-the-box thinking, his towering ambitions, and his willingness to challenge the status quo has and continues to inspire RPA’s design initiatives in the tri-state region.
