The plan to replace the notorious Rikers Island jail complex with borough-based facilities, including an expanded site on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, has seen its estimated cost surge to a staggering $16 billion, as revealed in Mayor Eric Adams' latest executive budget proposal.
Initially projected at $8 billion in 2019, the cost for the new jails has continuously risen, now doubling amid a series of delays and logistical hurdles, including the ongoing pandemic and a shortage of available contractors.
The new facility in Brooklyn, part of a broader initiative to create more humane detention conditions, is not expected to open until 2029, pushing the completion date two years beyond the legally mandated deadline to shut down Rikers Island by 2027.
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