On December 23, 2021 at 9:30 AM, a virtual press conference was held by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and a coalition of elected officials and advocates to highlight the COVID-19 crisis on Rikers and demand the city and state take action.

The New York Daily News reported that the COVID rate at the jail nearly doubled overnight. WCJA leads the #BEYONDrosies campaign to shut the Rose M. Singer women’s facility on Rikers Island. The campaign is fighting to close Rose M. Singer ahead of the city’s planned 2027 date, the safe decarceration of as many people at Rose M. Singer as possible and a standalone, centrally-located and trauma responsive justice center in New York City for the few who remain incarcerated. 

Watch WCJA’S Executive Director, Sharon White-Harrigan, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and fellow advocates at the virtual press conference here.