Mayor Adams, Councilmember Hanks Celebrate $5 Million Investment in First-Ever Staten Island Community Justice Center to Foster Further Community Engagement

July 18, 2024

Community Justice Center Will Provide Critical Services to Young People and Adults to
Reduce Crime and Incarceration, Strengthen Community Trust in Criminal Justice System

Former Criminal Courthouse to Be Transformed Into Community Asset That
Delivers Hands-On Programming to Keep Community Safe and Prosperous

NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Councilmember Kamillah Hanks today celebrated a major investment that will go towards delivering the Staten Island Community Justice Center - the first justice center of its kind in the borough. The center - also supported by funding from Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon - will now receive a $5 million capital investment that was part of the city's recently passed on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Adopted Budget that addresses the city's affordability crisis head-on and invests in the future of the city and the working-class people who make New York the greatest city in the world. This funding delivers on a key commitment made in Mayor Adams' "A Blueprint for Community Safety," a forward-thinking roadmap with upstream solutions to address gun violence throughout the five boroughs.

A project of the Center for Justice Innovation, the Staten Island Community Justice Center will provide an array of programs for both youth and adults that are impacted by the justice system. This $5 million capital investment puts Staten Island on the path towards receiving a dedicated state-of-the-art space and expanded programming to increase opportunities for young people housed at the former criminal court on Targee Street in the Stapelton neighborhood of Staten Island.

"I have long said that public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity," said Mayor Adams. "But to truly invest in public safety, we must focus on upstream solutions that give our communities - particularly our youth - a positive and productive stream to thrive in and that is exactly what the Staten Island Community Justice Center will do. I am proud to partner with Councilmember Hanks and District Attorney McMahon to realize a vision laid out in our 'Blueprint for Community Justice.' What was once a criminal court will now be transformed into a community-driven center that will focus on giving our youth the tools and opportunities needed to succeed and contribute to our society over their lifetimes. This is a true testament to the power of community, backed by the proven model that has already succeeded in achieving lasting success under the leadership of our partners at the Center for Justice Innovation."

"I am excited to be moving toward the realization of Staten Island's first Community Justice Center - it's been a long time coming for our borough," said Councilmember Hanks. "This investment marks a significant step towards Staten Island finally having a community justice center like the other boroughs in the city. The opening of this center will enhance public safety and strengthen community trust in our justice system. It will offer vital services and opportunities for young people and adults affected by the justice system, aiming to decrease crime and incarceration, while promoting a safer Staten Island. I want to express my appreciation to Mayor Adams and his administration for their support and commitment to making this possible."

"The Staten Island Community Justice Center is an absolute game changer for Staten Island," said Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon. "Today, thanks to a $5 million capital investment secured in New York City's Fiscal Year 2025 Adopted Budget and our partners Mayor Eric Adams, Councilmember Kamillah Hanks, and the Center for Justice Innovation, we are one step closer to making the dream of a Staten Island Community Justice Center a reality! Critical to addressing recidivism, youth violence, and our borough's public safety as a whole, the Staten Island Community Justice Center will help address the underlying conditions of crime by offering eligible defendants' meaningful diversion and restorative and mediation programming, as well as provide the broader community with a central hub for much-needed services. Starting in 2018, my office partnered with the Center for Justice Innovation to study the feasibility of bringing such a site to our shores and to change Staten Island's shameful distinction as the lone borough in New York City without a community justice center. Since then, my office has worked tirelessly alongside the Center for Justice Innovation, Councilmember Hanks, Mayor Adams, Borough President Fossella, and the rest of the Staten Island elected delegation to fully realize this goal, securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, identifying 67 Targee Street as the future facility's home, and launching a wide variety of programming, which will eventually be housed in the future community-based and crime-preventative facility. There's still more work to do, but I commend our partners in government for their combined efforts to make today's announcement possible and I look forward to one day soon opening the doors of Staten Island's very own Community Justice Center and making our beloved borough an even safer place to call home."

"I am proud of the Adams administration's demonstrated commitment to decreasing crime and addressing the upstream cause of gun violence," said First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. "By funding Staten Island's first-ever community justice center, we are getting resources to New Yorkers in need and helping to address the underlying causes of criminal behavior. We will always continue working with the community to foster a sense of accountability and support."

"Anytime you can provide an opportunity for justice-involved youth to seek support that will help them to visualize a prosperous future beyond their circumstance, is always a win," said New York City Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner Keith Howard. "As part of Mayor Adams' 'A Blueprint for Community Safety' plan, this new community justice center is truly a testament to his remarkable capability of staying the course to investing in a brighter future for the youth of our city."

"This investment in the Staten Island Community Justice Center offers an opportunity to provide more robust, community-based public safety resources for New Yorkers," said Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) Director Deanna Logan. "By investing in community, we center public safety as a way to repair the harms caused by interpersonal conflict. Expanding the Staten Island Community Justice Center underscores Mayor Adams' commitment to ensuring that New York City remains our nation's safest big city."

As outlined in the Adams administration's Blueprint for Community Safety, the expanded Staten Island Community Justice Center will follow the community justice model of similar centers in other boroughs, rooted in evidence-based practices and emphasizing community engagement and collaboration. By offering alternatives to traditional court processes, community justice centers aim to address the underlying causes of criminal behavior, rehabilitate individuals, and foster a sense of accountability within the community.

Expanded services and programing include individual counseling, psychoeducational group programming, youth leadership, mentorship programming, reentry services, and workforce development training for youth. For justice-involved clients, the Staten Island Justice Center's holistic approach seeks to prevent the negative consequences that often accompany contact with the criminal legal system while addressing clients' needs to prevent future system involvement. Youth programming is aimed at providing participants with leadership development tools and connecting them to opportunities that promote positive engagement with the community.

In January 2018, the Richmond County District Attorney's Office collaborated with the center to study the feasibility of bringing the concept of community justice to Staten Island. The first community justice centers in New York City - epitomized by Bronx Community Solutions and Brooklyn Justice Initiatives - were designed to integrate accountability and social services into the daily operation of centralized criminal courts, expanding the tools available to judges to include substance abuse treatment, mental health services, job training, and other services. The next iteration of the community justice model is exemplified by the Brownsville Community Justice Center, which offers alternative-to-incarceration services and engages residents in youth development and preventive programming but does not include a courtroom. With this new location, the Staten Island Community Justice Center will increase the frequency of the youth cohorts, grow youth impact programming, and hold more community events. In addition, the Staten Island Community Justice Center will co-locate services with more community partners and offer a "one stop shop" experience for community members.

Thanks to the Adams administration's ongoing strong fiscal management - which was bolstered by better-than-expected revenue growth - the administration overcame unprecedented challenges in this budget cycle to stabilize the city's financial outlook and close a $7.1 billion budget gap in January 2024. Because of steady, decisive decision making, the FY25 Adopted Budget allowed the Adams administration and the City Council to reinvest in initiatives and programs that protect public safety, rebuild the city's economy, and make the city more affordable and livable for working-class New Yorkers. As part of the budget agreement, the Adams administration and the City Council joined together to pass a collaborative budget that addresses the three things that cost New Yorkers the most - housing, child care, and health care - and invests billions of dollars of city resources in critical areas, including early childhood education, libraries, parks, public safety, housing, health care, transit, cultural institutions, and more.

MOCJ is the coordinating entity for the administration's criminal justice system and has expanded its support under the Adams administration for the Center for Justice Innovation (CJI), which operates community courts and community justice centers like the new, expanded center in Staten Island. MOCJ works in coordination with the CJI and the Office of Court Administration, as well as community courts, to provide quality services to individuals who are impacted by the criminal justice system as a way to reduce recidivism and the likeliness of future involvement in the criminal justice system. Through funding across the first two years of the administration, MOCJ directly supports the Midtown Community Court, Red Hook Community Justice Center, Brownsville Community Justice Center, Bronx Youth Court, and Queens Community Justice Center - The Rockaways, which all provide services - including alternatives to incarceration, individual and group counseling, mentoring, education and employment support, and mental health and substance use treatment - to individuals who encounter the criminal justice system.

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