These Walls: The Battle for Rikers Island and the Future of America's Jails

These Walls is a book by Alex Vitale that looks at the Rikers Island jail complex and the American justice system. It argues that architecture can be used as a path forward to create safety and justice. The book explores the controversy and notorious nature of Rikers Island, as well as the positive and negative reactions to the proposed closure. It also includes on-the-ground reporting, deep social and architectural history, and a challenge to long-held beliefs about power and justice.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 24 October 2023
Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster

“A crucial intervention in the high-stakes debate about the social value of jails and what we could do instead to create safety and justice.” —Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing

In the tradition of Locking Up Our Own and The New Jim Crow , a rarely seen, thought-provoking journey into Rikers Island and the American justice system that "reframes the debate the country's incarceration crisis, with a compelling focus on architecture as a path forward (Tony Messenger, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Profit and Punishment).

For nearly a century, the Rikers Island jail complex has stood on a 413-acre manmade island in the East River of New York. Today, it is the largest correctional facility in the city, housing eight active jails and thousands of incarcerated individuals who have not yet been tried. It is also one of the most controversial and notorious jails in America.

Which is why, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in 2017 that Rikers would be closed within the next decade, replaced with four newly designed jails located within the city boroughs, the surface reaction seemed largely positive. Many were enthusiastic, including Eva Fedderly, a journalist focused on the intersections of social justice and design, who was covering the closure and its impact for Architectural Digest . But as Fedderly dug deeper and spoke to more people involved, she discovered that the consensus was hardly universal. Among architects tasked with redesigns that reconcile profits and progress, the members of law enforcement working to stop incarceration cycles in community hot spots, the reformers and abolitionists calling for change, and, most wrenchingly, the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people whose lives will be most affected, some agreed that closing Rikers was the right thing to do.

But others were skeptical. They argued that closing Rikers would not solve the underlying problems of mass incarceration and that it would simply shift the burden of incarceration from one part of the city to another. They pointed out that the new jails would be just as overcrowded and understaffed as Rikers, and that they would be located in communities that already face significant economic and social challenges. They also argued that the closure of Rikers would have a negative impact on the surrounding community, as it would lead to the loss of jobs and economic activity.

Fedderly also spoke to the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people who would be most affected by the closure of Rikers. Many of them had been incarcerated for long periods of time, and they had experienced firsthand the brutality and inhumanity of the prison system. They expressed concerns about what would happen to them once Rikers was closed, and they worried that they would be left to fend for themselves in a society that often treats them with contempt and disdain.

Despite these concerns, Fedderly remained optimistic about the potential for change. She believed that the closure of Rikers could be an opportunity to create a more just and equitable justice system, one that focuses on rehabilitation and reintegration rather than punishment and incarceration. She argued that the new jails could be designed to be more humane and supportive of the incarcerated, and that they could be located in communities that would benefit from the economic and social opportunities that come with having a prison complex nearby.

Fedderly also noted that the closure of Rikers was not just a local issue, but a national one. She argued that the prison system in America is broken, and that it is time for the country to take a hard look at the policies and practices that have led to mass incarceration and work towards creating a more just and equitable system.

In conclusion, The End of Policing is a powerful and thought-provoking book that offers a unique perspective on the incarceration crisis in America. It challenges the conventional wisdom that prisons are necessary for public safety and argues that they are actually a contributing factor to the problem. Instead, the book suggests that we can create a safer and more just society by investing in community-based programs and services that address the root causes of crime and promote rehabilitation and reintegration.

Weight: 322g
Dimension: 213 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781982193911