Thread by @essayolumhense

At @rubendiazjr's hearing tn on the mayor's jail plan. @CrimJusticeNYC is in the building, as is the CEO of Diego Beekman, which sued the city regarding the proposal. @nonewjails_nyc and @JustLeadersUSA are here too, along with Rev. Wendy Calderon of @BronxConnect, among others.

The BP says he hopes to hear from every person here who wants to speak. Started exactly on time (thank you) anticipating a long list of speakers.

Testimony has not started yet, but folks at home/at work/in transit can follow along at bronxnet.org/watch/

MOCJ's just finished presenting on the plan, which many people here have seen a few times. Last month MOCJ presented on the plan at @BronxCb1's heated general board meeting, during which the board joined Brooklyn and Queens in voting no on the plan: thecity.nyc/2019/05/despit…

Many questions here from the BP on how the city's proposed site for the jail (an NYPD tow pound in Mott Haven) was selected. He's pressing Dana Kaplan of MOCJ on whether or not anyone from the Bronx was in the room when the decision was made. She defers the question to the mayor.

"We are not ignoring or dismissive of" what the community concerns are, says Kaplan.

"Has anything like this been done before?" Diaz asks officials of the shared ULURP for the jails proposed for Queens, the BX, BK, and Manhattan. Someone from planning says yes, but can't recall any off the top of her head.

A court officer is trying to remove someone in the crowd who has repeatedly and loudly demanded the public be allowed to speak. But @rubendiazjr intervened, asking the officer to let her stay. Reminds the audience that he wants to hear from everyone.

🌶️ public comment time! 🌶️

Rev. Wendy Calderon, ED of @BronxConnect, goes first, throwing her support behind the mayor's plan.

The fourth speaker's husband is currently in prison. "My children have only known their father as an incarcerated man," she says. She supports the mayor's plan, though she adds that she does not want to see anyone else "in cages."

Six speakers in, all support the plan. "Listen to directly impacted people," the sixth speaker says. "Talk to us," he adds. "Talk to us."

I see others here who have been imprisoned, at Rikers and elsewhere, or who have had family locked up. Eighth speaker lived on LI and used to travel to Rikers to see his brother. Says visits were dehumanizing, and though he is "vehemently" against prisons, he supports the plan.

Speakers 9 and 10 were at Rikers. 9th says rats running around always kept him up at night. He later became a RI "exterminator"; says he killed 250 rats there. 10th was 16 when he got to RI. When he got there, he "couldn't understand why they was cleaning blood off the ceiling."

Both speakers support the plan - number 10, Harvey Murphy, who spoke at the Mott Haven meeting last month, says hearing the stories of what others endured on the Island is "triggering" him.

Speaker 12 was also detained at Rikers. He asks "how many more have to die?"

My @THECITYNY colleagues, @RosaGoldensohn and @srjacobson1, have been following recent deaths on Rikers.

Read their wrenching piece on the death of #LayleenPolanco: thecity.nyc/2019/06/woman-…

Lisa Ortega of @takebackBX, who has been at Rikers, is the first speaker to come out against the plan. Her son is at Rikers now. "Please do not say yes with conditions," she says. "Fuck those people," she ends her statement saying.

A second no, from someone working with Diego Beekman.

And a third, No New Jails member, Myra Hernandez, who lives near the proposed site. She calls out de Blasio and MOCJ for pushing a "false narrative" that suggests the only way to close Rikers is to spend billions on new jails. Urges investments in schools, NYCHA, other resources.

My time here is almost up, but seriously follow @BronxnetTV to see more of this important meeting, including comment from Diego Beekman CEO Arline Parks, who told me she does plan to testify today.

Just kidding - it's Arline's turn. Not leaving just yet. She opposes the plan, of course, says she and others in Mott Haven have been working hard to improve the community for decades. Calls for closure of Rikers, but "not at the expense of (her) neighborhood."

Really gotta go though, please read all of the reporting myself and my colleagues at @THECITYNY (@rachelholliday, @clauirizarry, @chrisychung, @RosaGoldensohn, @ReuvenBlau and @srjacobson1) have done on jails in NYC: thecity.nyc/tags/jails/