Co-Director of Freedom Agenda; survivor of Rikers

“We know the violence, abuse, and toxicity of Rikers. We also know the environmental hazards in our communities... It took courage, commitment, and work to get us to this point; it is going to take a renewal of courage, commitment, and work moving forward towards our goals.”

Director of Community Development, The POINT CDC

“In the South Bronx we knew that we knew we can't separate criminal justice from environmental justice. We need the city to support community and survivor-led solutions"

Member of Freedom Agenda

“This vision came from impacted communities all over the City, who started having conversations years ago about how to address the legacy of Rikers, and how the land could be used to repair harm - harm that many of us are still grappling with.”

Bronx Community Activist

“We started talking really early on about what the future of Rikers Island itself would be, and how that would benefit this community.“

Activist & entrepreneur; survivor of Rikers

“For directly impacted people who've been through the trauma of Torture Island today is our day to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We've got to keep fighting, we've got to make sure Renewable Rikers gets all the way to the finish line.”

Vice President of Policy & Strategy, Exodus Transitional Community

“By creating renewable energy sources on land where so many people have suffered, we – the people that have been most harmed by the violence and pollution that plague Rikers Island – are giving back and leading with love. We want to heal our communities and environmental justice is instrumental in doing so. Renewable Rikers will help all New Yorkers breathe cleaner air.”

New York City Environmental Justice Alliance

“Renewable Rikers will create a hub of large-scale renewable energy and battery storage technology that can move us toward shutting down fossil fuel peaker power plants that have been polluting environmental justice communities for decades. Renewable Rikers will be a model for a Just Transition in New York City”

Member of Freedom Agenda; survivor of Rikers

“The transformation of Rikers Island from a place of misery to a place of healing can start NOW – not as a possibility but as a reality. We can change the history of torture, suffering and pain that has plagued so many families, and move towards a system of reparative environmental justice.”

Former Deputy Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice

“We wanted to stake our claim for Rikers to no longer be the city’s penal colony but a resource of clean energy, jobs, and redistributive justice.”

Member of VOCAL-NY; survivor of Rikers

“The land isn't just a landfill, it's stolen land, from Native people, and then we used it for evil. The only way we, as survivors of the island, can heal, is if you make it something that is healing.”

Senior Housing and Sustainability Organizer, Brooklyn Movement Center

“We can turn this piece of land into a functional ecosystem, and build this plan now to include people who spent time on Rikers because they were excluded from our economy.”