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The New York City Council passed a plan to build four new borough-based jails on Thursday, marking the end of a months-long effort to push through a proposal that politicians say will ultimately end in a Rikers Island shutdown.

Thirty-six of the 49 council members who voted on Thursday cast ballots in favor of the $8.7 billion land use plan. Council members Alan Maisel (D-Brooklyn) and Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) were not present for the vote. The proposal needed a majority of the Council — at least 25 votes — to pass.

“For many of us this is one of the most significant votes of our entire career,” Council Speaker Corey Johnson said before a packed Council chambers.

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johns, right, speaks to his chief of staff, Jason Goldman at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facility the construction of jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.
New York City Council Speaker Corey Johns, right, speaks to his chief of staff, Jason Goldman at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facility the construction of jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.

“This will be a vote for a new criminal justice system, a vote against mass incarceration,” Johnson added, his remarks followed by raucous applause. “This is a vote that recognizes the dignity of people … this is a vote of conscious, this is a vote of progress … Today, I vote yes.”

Thirteen council members shot down the plan, including Councilwoman Alicka Ampry-Samuel (D-Brooklyn) who said the proposal does little to help her constituents.

Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a press conference at City Hall after the city council voted to close Rikers Island Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facility the construction of jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.
Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a press conference at City Hall after the city council voted to close Rikers Island Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facility the construction of jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.

“Every New Yorker who has been in Rikers … deserve(s) a more heartfelt, intentional plan … Not just a list of negotiated commitments,” said Ampry-Samuel, who represents Bedford-Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, East Flatbush and Crown Heights.

“We are talking about people, people with lives … This process has been inappropriately rushed,” she added. “My vote is for my people.”

Rafael Espinal (D-Brooklyn) also said the newly-adopted plan misses the mark.

“I’m voting no because I feel the conversation that started at City Hall has not gone far enough,” he said. “When the city should have been pumping money into strengthening and nurturing my community, it was neglecting it.”

New York City Council member Rubin Diaz, Sr. speaks against closing Rikers Island at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facilitate the construction of new jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.
New York City Council member Rubin Diaz, Sr. speaks against closing Rikers Island at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facilitate the construction of new jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.

Council’s approval is considered the final phase of a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) that will permit the rezoning of four proposed jail sites, including 60 Centre St. in Lower Manhattan, 275 Atlantic Ave. on Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, 126-02 82nd Ave. in Kew Gardens, Queens, and 320 Concord Ave. in Mott Haven, the Bronx, by 2026, when the ill-fated Rikers facilities are expected to close.

All four of the council members whose districts are directly impacted by the new sites — Karen Koslowitz (D-Queens), Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn), Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan) and Diane Ayala (D-Bronx) — voted to pass the plan.

“I know in my heart I am doing the right thing,” Ayala said on Thursday, noting that her baby brother who suffers with mental illness spent much of his adult life locked up on the island.

“We abandoned him as a community, we abandoned him as a city and we abandoned him as a family,” she said. “I cannot allow myself to be bullied … I know in my heart I am doing the right thing.”

Rikers Island protesters chant at the Park Row entrance to New York City Hall on Thursday in Manhattan.
Rikers Island protesters chant at the Park Row entrance to New York City Hall on Thursday in Manhattan.

The hours-long hearing went off without a hitch until Councilman Mark Levine (D-Manhattan) stood up to explain why he supported the plan.

“You’re on the wrong side of history!” one woman shouted right after people sitting by her on the balcony started throwing fliers over the railing. The papers, printed by No New Jails, said, “If you cage our future, blood on your hands.”

New York City Council member Steve Levin speaks for closing Rikers Island at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facilitate the construction of new jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.
New York City Council member Steve Levin speaks for closing Rikers Island at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facilitate the construction of new jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.

Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo promptly shut down the protest.

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“Throwing things over the balcony compromises the safety of every member,” she said as every person in the balcony was escorted out of the building. “It’s inexcusable, it’s dangerous, it’s unfair, it’s inappropriate.”

De Blasio first announced the plan to shutdown Rikers and construct new borough-based jails back in 2017. At the time, the proposal was projected to cost a staggering $10.6 billion. That figure has since dropped to $8.7 billion amid decarceration efforts like the implementation of state bail reforms and citywide investments in pretrial and sentencing diversion programs, officials said.

Protestors disrupt the New York City Council meeting at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facility the construction of jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.
Protestors disrupt the New York City Council meeting at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York. The city council is voting on land use changes that will facility the construction of jails to be built in each borough except Staten Island to replace Rikers Island.

Projections over the average daily jail population have also fallen, down from an estimated 5,000 inmates in December 2018 to 3,300 people, according to a new city report released earlier this week.

A $391 million programming package that promises to fund mental health services, alternatives to incarceration and expand pretrial services like supervised release is attached to the ULURP.

“It was a big idea that seemed to have no chance a few years ago … What began as a rallying cry … has become a reality,” said Councilman and Chair of the Criminal Justice Committee Keith Powers (D-Manhattan.)

“It does not end here … It is our job (to) continue to do that work.”