In 2008, New York’s Department of Correction’s budget was $978 million ($939 million of which is paid for city tax dollars). “In Fiscal 2007, the Department handled over 100,000 admissions, managed an average daily population of 13,987 and transported 326,735 individuals to court.” The average length of stay is 47 days.
That’s $70,000 per inmate per year. Or $190 per person per night. I think it’s safe to say that Rikers Island is the world’s most expensive jail.
You could say that Rikers gives you and a friend a double room for $383 night. But you don’t get to pick your friend. Meanwhile I can get a double room tonight at the Holiday Inn on 57th Street in Manhattan for $268. But the Holiday Inn doesn’t have the coveted LaGuardia view.
You can see the DOC budget here.
This is just ridiculous and goes to show how out of control drugs
and the way we handle everything that comes along with them is…Wake up America…it's time to unite and revolt against our suppressive government…Legalize and regulate or continue to have blood on your hands until this country and empire kills itself like they all eventually do….
Ridiculous is the way the system dodges the unjustifiable incarceration of child support individuals. The way the city reveals in the amount of support they have collected for the year, but ignore the excess they spent in jailing each person. The matter is also over looked because most persons are jailed between 1 to 6 months when owing between $2,000, and $25,000. I would never condon dead beat dads, but may cases are fathers making payments that the courts deem to little regardless that the fathers documents reflect his cause, or worst just missed a payment and the mother is vindictive. Yes NewYork lets keep spending large sums of money going after smaller amounts by utilizing the prison system and the corrections department, because actuall criminals need to be neglected.