New York City Pension to Study Divesting From Private Prisons

The board of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System voted this week to explore the possibility of divesting from private prisons.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer said he’d propose the same resolution at the city’s other four pension funds, as well.

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The city’s five pension funds, which hold a cumulative $154 billion in assets, altogether have an estimated $20 million worth of holdings in private prisons, and NYCERS, which holds roughly $51.2 billion in assets, has private prison holdings worth roughly $6 million.

“Prisons should not be profitable at the expense of humane conditions and safety,” said John Adler, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Pensions and Investments and chair of the NYCERS Board, in an emailed statement.

“If NYCERS can responsibly divest from corporations that run private prisons, the City is eager to do its part in working to eliminate private prisons,” Adler said.