These Walls: The Battle for Rikers Island and the Future of America’s Jails

Journalist Fedderly centers this incisive debut exploration of mass incarceration in the U.S. on the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City. In 2019, the city government finalized a plan to close the notoriously violent institution and replace some of the lost capacity with small jails spread throughout the city. As a reporter for Architectural Digest, Fedderly began to investigate “if this $8.3 billion was best spent on new jails and if architecture could really help America’s mass incarceration problem.” She profiles currently and formerly incarcerated people in the New York City jail system; speaks to city planning officials; details the 20th-century development of the field of “justice architecture,” which specializes in the design of prisons, jails, and courthouses; and chronicles the odd-couple team-up of NIMBYs and prison abolitionists who protested construction of the new neighborhood prisons. Throughout, Fedderly presents two ideas as pitted against one another: the philosophy, championed by architects and planners, that “design can affect behavior and influence recidivism” (the new jails are meant to be more humane), versus the viewpoint, shared by protestors and prisoners themselves, that only investments in social life and educational opportunities can reduce crime and aid in rehabilitation. Fedderly proposes a marriage of the two through investment in “restorative justice facilities”—spaces that promote peace and community, which range from “transitional housing” to “colleges and universities.” It’s an accessible and thought-provoking study. (Oct.)