Rikers Island Reuse

As part of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform's report, which recommended closing the Rikers Island jails, FXCollaborative created redevelopment scenarios for the 406-acre island focused on providing the city with next-generation infrastructure. The island's isolation, location in LaGuardia Airport's flight path, and the cost of demolishing existing structures presented serious challenges for redevelopment. Our green infrastructure design solution overcomes these, addressing climate change and the city's aging infrastructure while advancing goals of justice and opportunity for the communities most impacted by Rikers. The report led to an agreement to close the jails and the New York City Council's passage of the 2021 Renewable Rikers Act.

The island can accommodate a next-generation water treatment facility and new composting facilities, as well as an energy-from-waste facility, essential to meeting New York City's 2030 goal of zero waste to landfill. Additional programs include a power-generating solar field, energy storage facility, research campus, and urban agriculture facility. An alternate scenario would create an expansion for the at-capacity LaGuardia with a third, more flood-resilient runway.