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.
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