Gov. Cuomo Calls To Shut Down Notorious NY Jail

Gov. Andrew Cuomo backed calls to shut down the notorious Riker's Island jail complex, and replace it with a brand new facility.

Cuomo stressed on Tuesday the current complex, which is a series of 10 jails and holds up to 15,000 inmates is unsafe, and outdated. Cuomo believes that the jail should be replaced with a smaller facility, as reported by Lohud.

Officials are admitting that there is a problem, and are now going to try and find solutions. Gov. Cuomo said:

"We should close down Rikers and build a new state of the art jail that is just safer for the guards and for the inmates. What is the alternative? Where do we go? Do we go to neighborhood jails? More smaller facilities? Do we find a different site and build one large facility? That’s step two."

Cuomo's comments stem from the commission that  New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito appointed last week, for ways to lessen the population at Riker's to the point that it could be shut down.