After Mayor Bloomberg announced that he would not be evacuating the prisoners at Rikers Island under the threat of then-Hurricane Irene, a backlash grew against the administration given the total shutdown of the MTA, mandatory evacuations of thousands of New Yorkers, and the horrific lessons of Katrina. "It is appalling that the City administration is abandoning the men and women at Rikers," Center for Constitutional Rights director Vince Warren said in a statement. CCR urged that the lives of the 12,000 prisoners on Rikers "should not be treated as less valuable than those of other New Yorkers."
However, the Mayor's Deputy Press Secretary Samantha Levine assured us that the city was taking every necessary precaution with the prison, and that Rikers Island did not lie in Zone A:
We carefully reviewed Rikers Island, as we have done with the entire city, and no section of Rikers Island facilities are in Zone A. Rikers Island facilities are not in low-lying areas, it’s not a costal location and, like nearby small islands Roosevelt Island and City Island, it does not need to be evacuated. We are focused on the areas where real dangers exist. A full Corrections Department staff will remain on Rikers Island and the facility is a fully self-sustaining entity, prepared to operate and care for inmates in extended emergency conditions.
We won't know how Rikers Island fared until the tropical storm leaves, but if Roosevelt Island is any indication, the prisoners may be just fine.
