A History of Rikers Island with Luke Lapean

As many of our community members know well, Thrive For Life has focused a great deal of our behind the walls ministry at Rikers Island—New York City’s primary jail and pre-trial detention complex. At the end of 2021, over 5,000 people were incarcerated at the complex, most awaiting adjudication of their case. The pandemic fell particularly hard on jails and prisons throughout the United States, and Rikers was hardly an exception. Roiled with an ongoing security and safety crisis that has already claimed 16 lives, it remains a particularly difficult place for our brothers and sisters behind the walls on the island. In lieu of this, we believe it is important to understand a little bit about Rikers and its history. Luke Lapean, one of our Jesuit scholastics who accompanies Fr. Zach on weekly visits to Rikers, has prepared a short video documenting a brief history of the jail complex.