| The Bronx:
Rikers Island |
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to The Bronx.
Located
just north of Queens and
south of the Bronx is the infamous
correctional facility, Rikers Island. Serving the
New York Metropolitan area faithfully since 1933, it’s hard to imagine now, Rikers Island was considered a state-of-the-art facility when it opened. Even then, the site had a distinguished history. The island was first used as a 90-acre farm and then as a training ground for African-American regiments during the Civil War. The original Penitentiary building and the Rikers Island Hospital are now called the James A. Thomas Center and The North Infirmary Command. Eight other jails — with the capacity to house more than 16,000 inmates — have been built in the last 67 years.
Considered a part of the Bronx, Rikers is best seen and entered from
Queens
to which it is connected via the Rikers Island Bridge. Travelers at La Guardia Airport, can catch a glimpse of the jail which lies in the water just north of the runways.
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The jails on
Rikers Island are maintained by the New York City
Department of Corrections.Each facility has its own
specific inmate profiles, but the majority of prisoners
are those being held over for trial that have been denied
or can not post bail. The remaining 34% of inmates
are both state sentenced and city sentenced criminals.
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Rikers Island
facilities have become less violent over the last 5 years
as the DOC has instituted many additional upgrades in
equipment for the guards as well as a new tougher policy
which tries prisoners for offenses while in custody and is
served concurrent with their original sentences. This acts as aprudent deterrent for some inmates that
wish to see life on the outside again before they are
fitted for dentures. Still
the Island is infamous for its violence and brutality on the
part of inmates...many of whom are hardened violent felons and
murderers. |
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Overview
of Facilities:
Adolescent Reception and Detention Center
Houses adolescent male detainees (ages 16-18) and separate area houses adult male detainees. Opened: 1972. Capacity: 1,674.
Anna M. Kross Center
Spread over 40 acres, the Kross Center houses male detainees and includes the islands’ Mental Health Center and the Methadone Detoxification Unit. Opened: 1978. Capacity: 2,135.
Eric M. Taylor Center
Houses adolescent and adult males sentenced to terms of one year or less; inmates are required to work on the Rikers grounds. Also houses Rikers’ "boot camp", a voluntary program for parole violators and inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes. Opened: 1964. Capacity: 1,942. |
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George Motchan Detention Center
A male detention center, opened in 1971 originally as a women's prison. Capacity: 2,119.
George R. Vierno Center
Completed in 1993, this facility houses male detainees. Capacity: 1,330.
James A. Thomas Center
The original Rikers Island Penitentiary, completed in 1935, is a maximum security, single-cell jail.
Capacity: 1,200.
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North
Infirmary Command
The NIC is the original hospital for Rikers Island, built
in 1934. Facilities exist for inmates requiring extreme
protective custody and for the normal prison population.
Capacity: 413.
Otis Bantum Correctional Center
Opened in 1985, this jail has both cell and dormitory housing. The jail also houses the 400-bed Central Punitive Segregation Unit for Rikers’ most dangerous and notorious inmates. Two refurbished Staten Island ferries are moored as an annex to this facility to accommodate inmate overflow. Capacity: 1,413. |
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Rose M. Singer Center
A 800-bed facility for females on the island, this jail, opened in 1988, includes a 25-bed baby nursery and a drug treatment area. Capacity: 1,545.
West Facility
With most of the West Facility on reserve status, the Contagious Disease Unit is operational and has 140 specially air-controlled units for inmates, male and female, with contagious diseases such as tuberculosis. Opened: 1991. Capacity: 1,127. |
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