U.S (VOCAL NEW YORK) : VOCAL-NY Guide to Your Week !

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

Thursday, August 17 @ 12PM: RALLY TO END THE CRISIS OF RIKERS : Rikers Island is a death trap. Twenty-six people have died in DOC custody since Mayor Adams took office, and 42 people since 2021, that we know of. Join us as we call on the Mayor to end this growing crisis once and for all by making decarceration the guiding policy for NYC.   Where : City Hall Park Trains: 4/5/6/J/Z to Bklyn Bridge City Hall. R/W to City Hall. 2/3 to Park Pl Contact : Keli, keli@vocal-ny.org, 929-363-4713

Save the Date !

Thursday, August 31 @ 11:30AM: MARCH/VIGIL/RALLY FOR INTERNATIONAL OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY : At a time where New York is losing more than 18 people a day to a preventable overdose, New Yorkers need more than awareness, we need action ! The Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office (SNPO) is an extension of the racist, classist War On Drugs, and its existence continues the violent cycle of criminalizing drug users. Join us at City Hall Park as we mourn our loved ones and community members who have died from a preventable overdose, and demand that our state's leaders divest from the SNPO and invest in systems of care and harm reduction !!  Where : City Hall Park (Chambers & Centre Side). Trains : J/N/R/W/Z/4/5/6 to City Hall. Contact : Steven, steven@vocal-ny.org 917.774.5907 RSVP HERE!

Week in Review

This week, leaders with VOCAL-NY joined allies and partners at a march and rally to #CloseRikers. Over 40 people held in the jails have died since the beginning of 2021 -- a clear humanitarian crisis.  New York City’s jails have been under federal oversight by a court-appointed monitor as a result of the 2011 case Nunez v. City of New York, and the federal government has considered taking over Rikers with a receivership and seeking appointment of an outside authority. In response, VOCAL-NY released a fact sheet to lay out the pro and cons to a federal receivership. Ultimately, if Rikers goes into receivership, it must be with an eye to decarceration and closing Rikers for good. https://gala.vocal-ny.org/ As Civil Rights Union leader, Eileen Maher, said about receivership in a statement : “The mere existence of Rikers is a humanitarian violation, and the Adams Administration is culpable every day it takes steps to delay shutting it down. With a receiver, true safety demands someone who is committed to decarceration and can move us closer to finally shutting down Rikers once and for all. A receivership without an eye towards decarceration will just land us back in the same spot we’re in now, and that’s deadly and unacceptable.”

What We're Reading

City & State : "Is New York ready to legalize supervised injection sites?" ABC 7 : "Judge takes 1st step to put New York City's Rikers Island under federal control" New York Daily News : "Gov. Hochul blasted for passive role in migrant crisis as NYC finds itself shouldering the burden"

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