Twitter Rages as NY Announces No Evacuation Plan for Rikers - COLORLINES
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
No Evacuation for Rikers Island
For a little peek at what could happen, though likely on a much lesser scale, Solitary Watch points to the ACLU's post-Katrina report on how Orleans Parish Prison fared during the hurricane.
This culture of neglect was evident in the days before Katrina, when the sheriff declared that the prisoners would remain "where they belong," despite the mayor's decision to declare the city's first-ever mandatory evacuation. OPP even accepted prisoners, including juveniles as young as 10, from other facilities to ride out the storm.
As floodwaters rose in the OPP buildings, power was lost, and entire buildings were plunged into darkness. Deputies left their posts wholesale, leaving behind prisoners in locked cells, some standing in sewage-tainted water up to their chests.
"The sheriff's office was completely unprepared for the storm," said Tom Jawetz, Litigation Fellow for the National Prison Project. "The Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals did more for its 263 stray pets than the sheriff did for the more than 6,500 men, women and children left in his care."
Prisoners went days without food, water and ventilation, and deputies admit that they received no emergency training and were entirely unaware of any evacuation plan. Even some prison guards were left locked in at their posts to fend for themselves, unable to provide assistance to prisoners in need.
Rikers already has a pretty rotten reputation, but letting prisoners wallow in half-flooded cinderblock cell buildings would be taking it to a whole new level.
Update: In an e-mail, Samantha Levine, the mayor's deputy press secretary, wrote:
We carefully reviewed Rikers Island, as we have done with the entire city, and no section [original emphasis] of Rikers Island facilities are in Zone A.
Rikers Island facilies are not in low-lying areas, it's not a coastal location and, like nearby small islands Roosevelt Island and City Island, it does not need to be evacuated. We focused on the areas where real dangers exist.
A full Corrections Department staff will remain on Rikers Island and the facility is a fully self-sustaining entity, prepared to operate and care for inmates in extended emergency conditions."
Saturday, August 27, 2011
A recidivist at Rikers
Prison chaplains are supposed to empathize, but Imam Aziz Ud-Din Bilal, who works at Rikers Island, has been taking things a little too far.He was busted Tuesday in a Queens prostitution sting -- his stunning 18th arrest in New York City since 1970.How he’s managed to keep his $50,000-a-year job at Rikers for the past two decades is a mystery to us. Heck, it’s probably a mystery to him, too.
Many Rikers inmates might envy Bilal’s rap sheet: Those 18 arrests include bribery charges, two prison stints for robbery and a 1985 murder charge (he was acquitted).
Last year he was investigated when cops found an unlicensed 9mm handgun in his Mercedes Benz when it was impounded.But only now, after his fifth arrest since he started working at Rikers in 1990, has Bilal been suspended from duty. By the way, Bilal has run for the City Council three times. During his run last year, he told a newspaper that “increasing job opportunities is his top priority.”
Somebody should tell the imam that soliciting prostitutes isn’t what most people consider to be a proper jobs program.It goes without saying that Bilal needs to be canned, pronto. But if hiring recidivist criminals to staff prisons is the best the city can do, well ... say your prayers.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Rikers Island forced to toss out $11,000 worth of rotten Jamaican beef patties
Red-faced Rikers Island jail honchos last week ordered city cooks to toss 14,000 rotten Jamaican beef patties into the trash, the Daily News has learned.The estimated $11,000 worth of rancid meat stuck to pans while emitting a nauseating smell once they were heated, several cooks and a top supervisor said.
"It was like the sewage. We didn't realize until we started cooking it," a jail chef said.
A city Correction Department spokeswoman insisted the lost meat was worth only $4,100.
But an internal document obtained by The News supported the account of multiple sources that it was worth more than double that amount.
The 1,450 cases of vile patties were bought two weeks ago from a new contractor, Robbins Sales, a wholesale canned food firm in Woodbury, L.I.
The department admitted some of the meat was tossed, but said other cases were returned.
"The meat was not spoiled, but as it could not be properly cooked, the patties could not be served to inmates," said spokeswoman SharmanStein.
She said that the city's purchasing department was immediately notified and is seeking a replacement for the rotten patties. Internal department documents show city inspectors notified Robbins Sales that the meat was sticking together and impossible to cook.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Robbins Sales President Jeffery Zwecker told The News when asked about the meat, but Stein says the distributor has promised to reimburse the city in full.
Veteran jail kitchen staffers said they didn't understand how the meat wasn't checked before it was delivered.
BY Reuven Blau
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
"It was like the sewage. We didn't realize until we started cooking it," a jail chef said.
A city Correction Department spokeswoman insisted the lost meat was worth only $4,100.
But an internal document obtained by The News supported the account of multiple sources that it was worth more than double that amount.
The 1,450 cases of vile patties were bought two weeks ago from a new contractor, Robbins Sales, a wholesale canned food firm in Woodbury, L.I.
The department admitted some of the meat was tossed, but said other cases were returned.
"The meat was not spoiled, but as it could not be properly cooked, the patties could not be served to inmates," said spokeswoman SharmanStein.
She said that the city's purchasing department was immediately notified and is seeking a replacement for the rotten patties. Internal department documents show city inspectors notified Robbins Sales that the meat was sticking together and impossible to cook.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Robbins Sales President Jeffery Zwecker told The News when asked about the meat, but Stein says the distributor has promised to reimburse the city in full.
Veteran jail kitchen staffers said they didn't understand how the meat wasn't checked before it was delivered.
BY Reuven Blau
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Resisting Help
Children need outside support to help them properly deal with the trauma of a parent's incarceration. Despite that, they often reject advice and inquiries from outsiders because they have had negative experiences when opening up to others.
"I felt like I don't want the extra attention. I didn't want to go to my friends and my peers, guidance counselors or anyone talking about it," said an Osborne program participant who requested anonymity. "I don't need the whole world to just be in my business, giving me extra attention that I do not want at all."
Osborne advocates training for teachers, guidance counselors and psychologists to help them properly handle and assist students with incarcerated parents."I think many say they don't want support but they do need support; many young people have not had a positive experience with a helping professional. First people need to be trained and more sensitive and understanding," Krupat said.
The organization also is pushing for increased community outreach to educate people on the realities of incarceration and reduce the stigma associated with it.
Cagle says that she's been trying to shake the stigma of her mother's incarceration for years. Often, community and family members can make it difficult for kids to escape the shadow of their parent's incarceration.
"Toward junior high school and high school it was a lot of pressure because everybody be like, 'Oh, don't mess up like your mother; don't be like your mother, you got to do good.' It was too much pressure on me," Cagle said. "Instead of people supporting me and telling me 'figure out what you want to do and make sure that you're the best at whatever you want to do,' everybody's always just like don't mess up."
"Some of the young people and the kids do struggle with what their destiny is. And then, with so many people assuming the apples don't fall far from the tree … they don't see bright futures for themselves," Krupat said. "Then things happen in their lives that affirm that for them, even if it's unintentional like a teacher accusing them when something's missing from the classroom or misunderstanding their anger that they can't be with their parent. And, then they may get sent to special-ed. Their possibilities get limited more and more."
This not only leads individuals having lower personal expectations. It also affects the expectations of entire communities.
"For me it wasn't such a big difference because I grew up in Bed-Stuy/Crown Heights. All my friends, most of them their father was locked up. So, we were the cool kids kind of," said Duncan, who will be headed to college in the Fall. "I wasn't embarrassed by it at all for some reason. I'm not saying it's normal, but for where I live at it's kind of a common thing."
Despite the hardships that the young men and women of Osborne have faced, many still hope for a productive present and a brighter tomorrow.
"Always believe in yourself and have faith ‘cause God, he helps. You just got to follow and trust him," said Rachel Rios, a 19-year-old daughter of a formerly incarcerated mother and father. "And it comes, you don't got to ask for nothing. It just comes to you when it's supposed to come to you, when you really need it."
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The Burden of Incarceration
by Jason Lewis
Aug 2011
The words "strong unit" don't pop into most people's heads when they think about a family splintered by incarceration. The Osborne Association, though, believes that providing individuals, families and communities with access to education and support services will substantially reduce the negative effects of incarceration.
In addition to helping the child while the parent is incarcerated, such services can provide benefits after. Research indicates that prisoners who maintain ties with their families are less likely to return to prison and they have lower rates of drug use than those without such connections.
A look at the numbers makes the need for such support immediately apparent. An estimated 105,000 minor children in New York City have at least one parent who is incarcerated. In addition, thousands of single mothers, single fathers, grandparents, foster parents, extended-family members and family friends are left to care for those children – and are also deeply affected by the incarceration.
For over 40 years New York City and the rest of America has waged its so-called war on drugs and crime, causing the American prison population to soar by 700 percent from 1970 to 2005. The brunt of this "mass incarceration" has fallen on members of inner-city communities — particularly African-American and Hispanic men – as evinced by the fact that 1 in every 15 black males and 1 in every 36 Hispanic males over the age of 18 are incarcerated, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
"Mass incarceration is an accurate description of how the criminal justice system is experienced in many particularly urban communities of color where a very high percentage of particularly African-American men have had contact with the criminal justice system often for things that in other communities would not result in an arrest or incarceration," said Ann Jacobs, director of the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College.
Mass incarceration has played a huge role in the economic, social and psychological destabilization of many urban youngsters, families and communities of color. Unfortunately, no one began to substantially address the dramatic impact that mass incarceration has had on this segment of our population until 10 or 15 years ago — after decades of damage had already
Aug 2011
The words "strong unit" don't pop into most people's heads when they think about a family splintered by incarceration. The Osborne Association, though, believes that providing individuals, families and communities with access to education and support services will substantially reduce the negative effects of incarceration.
In addition to helping the child while the parent is incarcerated, such services can provide benefits after. Research indicates that prisoners who maintain ties with their families are less likely to return to prison and they have lower rates of drug use than those without such connections.
A look at the numbers makes the need for such support immediately apparent. An estimated 105,000 minor children in New York City have at least one parent who is incarcerated. In addition, thousands of single mothers, single fathers, grandparents, foster parents, extended-family members and family friends are left to care for those children – and are also deeply affected by the incarceration.
For over 40 years New York City and the rest of America has waged its so-called war on drugs and crime, causing the American prison population to soar by 700 percent from 1970 to 2005. The brunt of this "mass incarceration" has fallen on members of inner-city communities — particularly African-American and Hispanic men – as evinced by the fact that 1 in every 15 black males and 1 in every 36 Hispanic males over the age of 18 are incarcerated, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
"Mass incarceration is an accurate description of how the criminal justice system is experienced in many particularly urban communities of color where a very high percentage of particularly African-American men have had contact with the criminal justice system often for things that in other communities would not result in an arrest or incarceration," said Ann Jacobs, director of the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College.
Mass incarceration has played a huge role in the economic, social and psychological destabilization of many urban youngsters, families and communities of color. Unfortunately, no one began to substantially address the dramatic impact that mass incarceration has had on this segment of our population until 10 or 15 years ago — after decades of damage had already
Thursday, August 18, 2011
City Council takes on Feds over immigrant detentions at Rikers Island
BY Reuven Blau
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The city council Wednesday introduced legislation to limit the power of federal immigration officers on Rikers Island.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained and deported hundreds of inmates charged with a variety of crimes - from low level quality-of-life offenses to felony drug charges.
Many of those detained or kicked out of the country are never convicted of a crime.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has championed the measure, which was hailed by immigration advocates.
"The time is overdue for New York City to end its collaboration with immigration enforcement programs that target vulnerable members of our communities and funnel them into a fundamentally broken system," said Rick Jones, executive director of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.
The Bloomberg administration has not taken a position on the bill.
"We are glad that the Council has begun considering the public safety aspects of this issue, and we look forward to reviewing the draft legislation," said mayoral spokesman Marc LaVorgna.
Federal immigration officials say further limits on their agents based at Rikers Island would take away one of their best tools for tossing foreign-born criminals.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/18/2011-08-18_council_takes_on_fed_deportations.html#ixzz1VPOxeg80
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The city council Wednesday introduced legislation to limit the power of federal immigration officers on Rikers Island.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained and deported hundreds of inmates charged with a variety of crimes - from low level quality-of-life offenses to felony drug charges.
Many of those detained or kicked out of the country are never convicted of a crime.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has championed the measure, which was hailed by immigration advocates.
"The time is overdue for New York City to end its collaboration with immigration enforcement programs that target vulnerable members of our communities and funnel them into a fundamentally broken system," said Rick Jones, executive director of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.
The Bloomberg administration has not taken a position on the bill.
"We are glad that the Council has begun considering the public safety aspects of this issue, and we look forward to reviewing the draft legislation," said mayoral spokesman Marc LaVorgna.
Federal immigration officials say further limits on their agents based at Rikers Island would take away one of their best tools for tossing foreign-born criminals.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/18/2011-08-18_council_takes_on_fed_deportations.html#ixzz1VPOxeg80
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Bronxites who can't afford to pay bail for petty crimes get help from state legislature
But new legislation headed to Gov. Cuomo's desk could set them free.
Passed unanimously in June by the Senate and Assembly, the bill would allow charitable organizations to post bail for poor defendants held on petty charges.
It was sponsored in the Senate by state Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) and modeled on the Bronx Freedom Fund.
Not only do thousands of Bronxites serve time because they can't afford bail; many innocent defendants plead guilty rather than wait behind bars for jury trials, said Rivera, who expects Cuomo to sign the bill this month.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
New Yorkers critique city's jails on user-review website
USERS of the online review site Yelp - where anyone can become a critic of restaurants, nightclubs and stores - started branching out from their foodie focus by writing reviews of New York City's jails, the New York Post reported Monday.
According to Yelp, Rikers Island is the pick of the prisons, getting an average rating of 4.5 stars. "I had a terrific getaway on this luxurious island retreat," a Yelp critic named Diane B wrote. "Thank you, Rikers Island: It took me just a few weeks to realize I would never drink and drive again."
Manhattan Central Booking only averaged a paltry two stars, according to Yelp users. "I didn't try the food, but the single-serving cereal boxes make for an acceptable pillow," according to reviewer Paul K., who gave the place one of its better write-ups. "Third star is for not strip-searching me."
While some of the commenters may be internet pranksters, most of the reviews seemed to have been posted by people who actually spent time as invited guests of the police. "I wrote [a review] sort of as a laugh," 42-year-old Davisha Badone, of Manhattan, said after spending a night in jail on an assault rap after a bar fight. "It was spontaneous."
A lot of NYPD precinct houses are also reviewed on the site. Several got positive marks.
"They didn't serve me delicious vegetarian food or pour me any wine, but they were efficient and just plain nice in helping me file a report for my stolen wallet yesterday," reviewer Cara A. wrote of the 19th precinct, in Manhattan.
According to Yelp, Rikers Island is the pick of the prisons, getting an average rating of 4.5 stars. "I had a terrific getaway on this luxurious island retreat," a Yelp critic named Diane B wrote. "Thank you, Rikers Island: It took me just a few weeks to realize I would never drink and drive again."
Manhattan Central Booking only averaged a paltry two stars, according to Yelp users. "I didn't try the food, but the single-serving cereal boxes make for an acceptable pillow," according to reviewer Paul K., who gave the place one of its better write-ups. "Third star is for not strip-searching me."
While some of the commenters may be internet pranksters, most of the reviews seemed to have been posted by people who actually spent time as invited guests of the police. "I wrote [a review] sort of as a laugh," 42-year-old Davisha Badone, of Manhattan, said after spending a night in jail on an assault rap after a bar fight. "It was spontaneous."
A lot of NYPD precinct houses are also reviewed on the site. Several got positive marks.
"They didn't serve me delicious vegetarian food or pour me any wine, but they were efficient and just plain nice in helping me file a report for my stolen wallet yesterday," reviewer Cara A. wrote of the 19th precinct, in Manhattan.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Mom's tough love: Won't bail troubled son from Rikers, so he can learn lesson
Holed up at Rikers Island, Steven Mercado awaits his fate as he faces robbery and crack-dealing charges stemming from three separate arrests in the past two months.
He's 16 years old - and looking at 15 years in prison.
His biological aunt, legal guardian and "mom," Debbie Earhart - who's raised him since birth - wants Steven to learn his lesson, but not by losing more than a decade of his life.
Earhart, 45, of Bedford Park won't post the teen's $3,000 cash bail, believing the only way Steven will stay out of trouble and finish school is if he's locked up.
"He needs to be in a program, he needs therapy - he has ADHD [Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] and behavioral problems - he's afraid," she said.
Earhart said Steven called her, telling her he had to change cell blocks after jailed members of the Trinitario gang threatened to choke him because he doesn't speak Spanish.
Short and slight, Steven is due back in court tomorrow, when his Legal Aid attorney will try to downgrade his 10 felony and six misdemeanor charges to a youthful offender status, which would land him just one year in jail.
The teen's parents have been in and out of prison and absent from his life, Earhart said.
"I think that's why he's so rebellious and angry," she said.
Steven failed all his classes last year at special education Lewis and Clark High School.
He will have to repeat the ninth grade, after he missing 37 days and being late 46 times.
But Earhart said, "He would do anything for his grandma. If she needed him to go to the store, he would drop everything and go for her."
Steven was first arrested on May 11,near Public School 54 on Decatur Ave. He is accused of selling four Ziploc bags containing crack cocaine to an undercover Bronx narcotics officer, according to a criminal complaint.
The teen was released on his own recognizance after he was arraigned on charges of criminal possession of and sale of a controlled substance.
On June 28, he was arrested along with Marcus Quattlebaum, 17, and Elijah Davis, 18, for allegedly robbing a man of his iPod on Hoffman St. near Middle School 45 - the school Earhart's daughter, an honors student, attends.
According to the criminal complaint, Steven also snatched two gold chains from the victim's neck.
As the baby-faced, scared-looking boy stood before Acting Supreme Court Justice William Mogulescu at his arraignment on June 29, Earhart reeled in the audience.
"They'll eat you alive in state prison. . . . Your mom is tired of seeing you locked up - do you think she likes sitting here?" Mogulescu asked, pointing to a visibly stressed-out Earhart.
Before releasing him into Earhart's custody , Mogulescu issued the boy a stiff warning that if he were caught doing anything wrong again, he'd be thrown right in the clink.
Earhart tried to enroll him in the Fortune Society - a nonprofit social service and advocacy program dedicated to formerly incarcerated individuals - but he got into trouble again.
Just a week later, on July 6, the troubled teen - along with "five unapprehended males" - allegedly kicked a man in the ribs and took his backpack and iPod from the man's pocket.
"There are people that commit murders and only go away for eight or nine years," Earhart said. "Why is he looking at 15?
"I don't condone what he did - he was wrong and he needs to pay for it - but he really needs help above anything."
BY Sarah Armaghan
DAILY NEWS WRITER
He's 16 years old - and looking at 15 years in prison.
His biological aunt, legal guardian and "mom," Debbie Earhart - who's raised him since birth - wants Steven to learn his lesson, but not by losing more than a decade of his life.
Earhart, 45, of Bedford Park won't post the teen's $3,000 cash bail, believing the only way Steven will stay out of trouble and finish school is if he's locked up.
"He needs to be in a program, he needs therapy - he has ADHD [Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] and behavioral problems - he's afraid," she said.
Earhart said Steven called her, telling her he had to change cell blocks after jailed members of the Trinitario gang threatened to choke him because he doesn't speak Spanish.
Short and slight, Steven is due back in court tomorrow, when his Legal Aid attorney will try to downgrade his 10 felony and six misdemeanor charges to a youthful offender status, which would land him just one year in jail.
The teen's parents have been in and out of prison and absent from his life, Earhart said.
"I think that's why he's so rebellious and angry," she said.
Steven failed all his classes last year at special education Lewis and Clark High School.
He will have to repeat the ninth grade, after he missing 37 days and being late 46 times.
But Earhart said, "He would do anything for his grandma. If she needed him to go to the store, he would drop everything and go for her."
Steven was first arrested on May 11,near Public School 54 on Decatur Ave. He is accused of selling four Ziploc bags containing crack cocaine to an undercover Bronx narcotics officer, according to a criminal complaint.
The teen was released on his own recognizance after he was arraigned on charges of criminal possession of and sale of a controlled substance.
On June 28, he was arrested along with Marcus Quattlebaum, 17, and Elijah Davis, 18, for allegedly robbing a man of his iPod on Hoffman St. near Middle School 45 - the school Earhart's daughter, an honors student, attends.
According to the criminal complaint, Steven also snatched two gold chains from the victim's neck.
As the baby-faced, scared-looking boy stood before Acting Supreme Court Justice William Mogulescu at his arraignment on June 29, Earhart reeled in the audience.
"They'll eat you alive in state prison. . . . Your mom is tired of seeing you locked up - do you think she likes sitting here?" Mogulescu asked, pointing to a visibly stressed-out Earhart.
Before releasing him into Earhart's custody , Mogulescu issued the boy a stiff warning that if he were caught doing anything wrong again, he'd be thrown right in the clink.
Earhart tried to enroll him in the Fortune Society - a nonprofit social service and advocacy program dedicated to formerly incarcerated individuals - but he got into trouble again.
Just a week later, on July 6, the troubled teen - along with "five unapprehended males" - allegedly kicked a man in the ribs and took his backpack and iPod from the man's pocket.
"There are people that commit murders and only go away for eight or nine years," Earhart said. "Why is he looking at 15?
"I don't condone what he did - he was wrong and he needs to pay for it - but he really needs help above anything."
DAILY NEWS WRITER
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