On the last day of Black History Month, around 40 protestors gathered outside Governor Kathy Hochul’s Manhattan office, demanding the governor lay off her proposed bail reform rollback. Simultaneously, they also called for the permanent closure of Rikers Island.
As part of the current NY State budget negotiations, Hochul suggested rolling back portions of the state’s bail reform laws, passed in 2019 under then-Governor Andrew Cuomo, which eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. The governor’s proposed changes would give judges more discretion when setting bail, allowing them to consider a defendant’s criminal history and past use or possession of firearms.
