The Rikers Island Correctional Facility, a complex of 10 jails and about 10,000 detainees located northeast of LaGuardia Airport, has been one of NYC's most debated problems for decades—widely criticized for corruption, brutal mistreatment of detainees, and inhumane conditions.

Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform—a multi-disciplinary group of experts is proposing to shut down The Rikers and advocates for alternatives to single, centralized jails. The group released Justice In Design, a report that envisions an alternative to a single, centralized jail and details how community-based jails, dubbed “Justice Hubs,” might function in an urban context to replace Rikers.  

"Developed in partnership with the nonprofit urban think tank Van Alen Institute, the design-based findings are a follow up to a March report that recommended a system of borough-based jails to replace Rikers, among other reforms to the city’s criminal justice system."

The detailed commission envisions a new jail typology that is “healthy, rehabilitative, and respectful”.  Justice Hubs would put courts, jails, bail services, and social services all in close proximity aspiring to reduce time and resources needed for individuals to move to and from courts, modernize facilities, increase accountability and community connection, improve court efficiency, provide better mental health services, lower jail population and create an integrated into the neighborhood civic resource.

"Better interior design and decentralized jails don’t directly tackle the root of mass incarceration’s systemic injustices, but the problem is so vast that it requires a multi-faceted approach. And the Van Alen thinks design is a mechanism that can be effective, since it involves dissecting and addressing multiple factors at once."