North Brother Island sits in the East River, just west of Rikers Island and south of Barretto Point Park in the Bronx. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was home to a hospital for patients with infectious diseases; after that, it housed returning WWII veterans. In the ’50s and ’60s, it was a […]
Street artistsGilf! and Lmnopi collaborated on a new mural dedicated to Kalief Browder, the young Bronx man who was held for more than three years at Rikers Island without a trial and later committed suicide. The art was unveiled to the public in Soho on Saturday and included a Q&A with the curator, artists, Kalief’s […]
Civil rights organizations are holding a vigil for Kalief Browder, the 22-year-old Bronx man who committed suicide this past weekend, 2 years after being released from Rikers. The vigil will take place at the Metropolitan Detention Complex on White Street at 6 PM, according to the organization’s Facebook page. Activists and those who want to […]
Among the many counterproductive and illogical ways that a city can fill its jails and overburden its criminal justice system is by criminalizing things that homeless people do in order to survive. New York City, perhaps more than any other city, excels at spending money on arrests, prosecutions, and jails, rather than on programs that […]
Two more horrifying complaints against the Department of Corrections and its contractors have recently been filed. DNAinfo reports that court documents claim a doctor at the Manhattan Detention Center told an inmate to “throw part of his severed middle finger in the garbage” after a corrections officer accidentally crushed it in an electronic door, and […]
A grand jury has dismissed terrorist charges against a Brooklyn teenager who was arrested for posting a Facebook status of gun emojis pointed at police emojis. According to the criminal complaint, Osiris Aristy’s multiple social media posts “caused New York City police to fear for their safety,” prompting them to show up at his Bushwick […]
In a unanimous decision of 7-0, the New York City Board of Corrections has approved a policy change to end solitary confinement for inmates ages 21 and under. This comes on the heels of the decision to end the practice for 16 and 17-year-old inmates back in September. Prior to Tuesday’s decision, the De Blasio administration had […]
DNAinfo is reporting that officer Evans Mazile, who was recorded brutally hitting a fare-beater with his baton, sustained a wrist injury while he repeatedly assaulted the accused. Both men went to the hospital that night but the officer is the only one who got a paid vacation out of it. Mazile is now on paid leave due to his injury. […]
New York corrections officials will no longer place inmates under 18 in segregated housing — a face name for solitary confinement — reports the Associated Press. In some cases, prisoners as young as 9-years-old were subjected to “special housing.” This common sense policy wasn’t adopted by prison brass because they all of a sudden had […]
Notorious narcotics detective Peter Valentin has been on modified duty since March, but the city is still paying his giant legal tab. As NYPD’s highest overtime earner who called himself “PistolPete” and “the King of the Bronx,” Valentin was sued 28 times since 2006, with an average settlement of $50,000. Since April, Valentin’s six settlements totaled $402,000. With […]
