7. Rikers Island

Photo: Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix

As a 16-year-old, Korey Wise is set to Rikers Island, New York City’s main jail facility between the Bronx and Queens. He meets Matias Reyes for the first time at Rikers. Following years of activism to move the 16-18 year old juveniles out of Rikers Island, the process was completed in October 2018. Which means had this policy been in place for Wise in 1999, he would not have had to endure the conditions in Rikers Island.

In 2010, Untapped Cities worked with the juvenile population at Rikers Island in a legal workshop over the course of several months, and we reported on the conditions inside the jail. A large percentage of those held in Rikers Island simply cannot afford bail – and have been known to stay from a few months to a few years awaiting trails.