4. Rikers Island May Be Transformed

A future vision for Rikers Island and LaGuardia Airport by RethinkStudio/Jim Venturi

As the conditions on Rikers Island continue to deteriorate, the city is putting more focus on the future of the site. Reform and renovation have been proposed to fix its crumbling foundation, but many argue that the facility is beyond saving. Though expensive, the non-profit organization Just Leadership has been one of the main coalescing voices in the CloseRikers campaign, supported by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. Various potential proposals, commissioned by Crains New York, have surfaced to completely transform the grounds, such as the above LaGuardia Airport extension idea by Rethink Studio – but an architecture studio led by Untapped Cities founder Michelle Young at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation seeks to go beyond these proposals, making sure any future plans are appropriate to the site itself, the constituents within Rikers Island and the community around.