As part of its 2022 Richard Kaplan Chairs for Urban Design Fellowship, Regional Plan Association commissioned a visioning for how the design of a Renewable Rikers island could look and function.
Building on the work of community, criminal justice reform and environmental organizations, RPA supports transforming the island from one for incarceration to one for green infrastructure that could benefit all New Yorkers. Developing renewable energy, wastewater treatment and recycling infrastructure on Rikers Island could reduce sewage overflow and air pollution in Northern Manhattan, the South Bronx and Queens, open up miles of inaccessible shoreline, and ensure that future use of Rikers benefits the directly impacted individuals and communities that have been most harmed by mass incarceration and environmental injustice.
There’s a lot of momentum for the island as a hub of green infrastructure. It’s an amazing opportunity and definitely doesn’t come along every day.”
The Inner Long Island Sound: Industry, nature, and neighborhoods in harmony
