NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — There are two transformative events on the horizon in New York City. One involves the arrival of casino gambling, and then there's the looming shutdown of Rikers Island.
In a New York Times op-ed published Thursday, journalist Neil Barsky questions if the polarizing city-run jail should be turned into a Las Vegas–style casino and hotel amid deteriorating conditions, including 19 inmate deaths this year alone.
Several factors led to this proposal, according to Barsky, a former hedge fund manager and Wall Street gaming analyst who founded The Marshall Project, a nonprofit journalism organization covering the criminal justice system.
In fact, he told WCBS 880 anchor Paul Murnane that it might even have the support of people who live outside the city.
"In survey after survey, people tend to like casinos when they [are] away from densely populated cities," Barsky said. "Theater groups have already come out against a Times Square casino."
In addition to causing traffic and keeping it away from children, he claims there is a "good social reason" to keep it on an island, away from neighborhoods — the economic benefit of new development.
"We don't need it in Manhattan," Barsky added. "We need it outside, in the boroughs."
Rikers Island, which faces a deadline to close on Aug. 31, 2027, is an intriguing opportunity for the city and criminal justice reform, according to Barsky.
"The city is in the process of trying to close [Rikers], but there are a lot of roadblocks," he said. "A lot of the roadblocks have to do with the fact that [Mayor Eric Adams] is not 100% behind the closure. ... If the city could find a way to put the casino on Rikers and own it in partnership with the developer, it could use the proceeds from its ownership to fund a whole array of social programs, job training, low-income housing."
Barsky noted that "all of these things are actually connected to incarceration, and it could grease the wheels [of] the city's efforts to empty the island of its incarcerated inhabitants," describing the island as "a horrible, hellish place that really does demand to be closed."
While the city owning a casino may raise eyebrows, he said that "casinos are coming," despite the reality that "there is a strong social and cultural bias against casinos in New York and in our country."
"My argument is since they're coming anyway, the city may as well structure it in a way where the proceeds from the ownership go many of the neediest people," he added.
His case has received some favorable feedback from advocates, despite concerns that gaming is "predatory" and "discriminates against the poor and elderly who are most prone to gambling."
Barsky said he had yet to hear back from the mayor's office, but he said he remains hopeful that Adams "has an open mind to it."
"It will either close or it won't," he said. "if it doesn't close, then there won't be a casino."
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