NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on fed takeover of Rikers Island: "We've got to try something new"
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy sat down with CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer for this week's episode of "The Point."
Jumaane Williams on Rikers Island
This week, a federal judge appointed a remediation manager for Rikers Island. So will it make a difference in conditions there?
"They didn't create this mess. I don't think they made it much better. My thing has been it is not working for anyone there. The people who work there, the corrections officers, certainly not the detainees who are dying at high rates. We've got to try something new," Williams said. "I am hoping that this is the thing that will get us where we need to go, which is a place where people can feel safer."
Williams talked about the importance of changing the culture at Rikers.
"You've got to remember that 80% or more of the folks who are there haven't been convicted of crime, so they're waiting for their trial," Williams said. "One of the things everybody agrees on, everyone, all sides of this, is a speedy trial is a problem. So I really wish we all can just get in a room and figure out how to get people tried. Either send them home, or send them upstate."
Fabien Levy on the new city office to combat antisemitism
Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy is the highest-ranking Jewish official in the Adams administration, so who better to talk about the mayor's decision to open an office to combat antisemitism.
"Jewish New Yorkers make up about 10% of the city's population, but are sadly the target of about 62% of hate crimes, total hate crimes. That means that almost all the other hate crimes combined don't equal what Jewish New Yorkers have felt in the first quarter of this year," Levy said.
Levy said there's been a spike since the Oct. 2024 Hamas attack on Israel there has been an exponential increase in hate crimes.
Your Point: Are college degrees still worth it?
Education officials including the head of the American Federation of Teachers, have begun talking about the value of teaching kids a trade instead of sending them college. Do New Yorkers agree? They're weighing in.
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