Mayor Adams announces plan to close Rikers jail barge, create marine terminal in Hunts Point

By Emily Swanson Posted on June 9, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday that the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center barge in Hunts Point—which previously housed overflow population from Rikers Island jails—will be removed, and the area transformed into a marine terminal connecting to the recently-announced “blue highway” system on the South Bronx waterfront.

At a press conference in front of the barge, Adams said the revamped terminal would reduce truck traffic around the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center by up to 9,000 trips per month, thereby improving health conditions such as asthma for local residents.