Jail-reform advocates are ambushing Mayor de Blasio with an attack ad set to air during his regular “Mondays with the Mayor” TV show on NY1.
The spot ridicules Hizzoner for his “Tale of Two Cities” rhetoric during the 2013 mayoral campaign and jabs him for failing to fix Rikers Island, which it calls “New York’s biggest and most corrupt jail complex.”
“You failed to address a human-rights atrocity in your own backyard,” the ad’s voice-over accuses. “Detainee violence, rape and pervasive brutality by guards is the norm.”
The group behind the ad, which is set to air during Monday’s show, is JustLeadershipUSA, a nonprofit dedicated to cutting the US correctional population in half by 2030.
The ad cites statistics such as the $209,000 the city shells out per bed each year for inmates.
“Mayor de Blasio, you say you want to make New York a more just and progressive place. Well, it’s time to lead. Close Rikers now,” the ad concludes.
City Hall spokeswoman Natalie Grybauskas defended her boss, insisting he’s focused on “reforming the culture” at Rikers.
“[Closing Rikers is] a noble idea that would take years to implement, and putting new jails in our neighborhoods would not be a simple task,” she said.
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