Chair of the New York City Council criminal justice committee, Manhattan City Council Member Carlina Rivera, tweeted on Wednesday that she had written a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden, inviting him to take a tour of Rikers Island during his upcoming visit to New York on Thursday, Feb. 3. However, a visit by the president to the controversial City jail was not on the cards in the end, as confirmed by the White House. The president’s visit was instead taken up with various discussions with Mayor Eric Adams and other gun violence prevention expert groups on immediate strategies to prevent both gun violence and gun trafficking, as reported.

 

Rivera had written in a tweet earlier this week, “As chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice, I’ll work with all levels of government to address the humanitarian crises at Rikers Island and in our criminal legal system.” She added, “I echo the call of Defenders citywide, and invite @POTUS to tour Rikers when he visits NYC this week.”

 

Meanwhile, as the Bronx and City continue to battle the aftermath of the recent snow storm, bringing with it freezing temperatures and several inches of snow, interns and formerly incarcerated staff at the nonprofit, WITNESS, have launched a gloves and hats campaign for the 5,500 people incarcerated at Rikers Island and across the New York City jail system.

 

“Last week, it was below zero degrees,” the group wrote in a press release announcing the campaign. “Those incarcerated do not have the basic, necessary items to stay warm. Witness to Mass Incarceration’s (WITNESS) Hats and Gloves Campaign has been approved by New York Department of Corrections (DOCS) to provide all 5,500 people incarcerated on Rikers Island and across the NYC jail system with hats and gloves as extreme cold grips the city. We urge the public to donate as little as $10 to provide an incarcerated person with a pair of gloves and a hat. In solidarity, we can raise the $55,000 necessary to provide hats and gloves to each person incarcerated in New York City.”

 

Saying they were gravely concerned that the people incarcerated in the jail were freezing, WITNESS representatives said the campaign comes as hundreds of incarcerated people on Rikers Island are protesting what were described as life-threatening conditions, rampant within the facility. The jail has a reputation of being an unsafe and violent place, where several inmates have already died in custody.

 

“The New York Times reports what inmates describe as dangerously cold conditions at Rikers as temperatures have dropped in the last weeks,” WITNESS representatives wrote. “Research has shown temperatures are anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees colder inside prisons. Hundreds of those detained on Rikers Island have organized in protest against the prison’s inadequate – and plainly neglectful – response to the unmitigated spread of COVID-19 across the facility.”

 

They added, “Those incarcerated on Rikers and in jails across NYC are subjected to overcrowded, unsanitary, and violent conditions even as severe winter weather hits a city reeling from the Omicron wave. WITNESS needs your support in providing immediate material relief in the form of hats and gloves to incarcerated people throughout New York City.”

 

Norwood News reached out to NYC Department of Correction (DOC) for comment on the points raised by WITNESS regarding the conditions at the jail, including the COVID situation, and the hats & gloves campaign. A DOC spokesperson responded, saying, “During the cold winter months, we take numerous precautions to keep everyone in our care warm such as providing appropriate winter attire before the season begins, regularly monitoring temperatures in housing areas, and having emergency equipment available in case of weather-related power outages. We are committed to ensuring that our facilities remain safe and livable at all times.”

 

According to DOC, to keep all those who work and live in DOC facilities safe, the department created a Cold Weather Action Plan,which includes the distribution of winter items such as, blankets, long sleeve uniforms, sweatshirts and hats. Officials said the department prepares for the winter season months before it begins.

 

Officials said the department has what was described as a robust and efficient grievance system that people in custody avail of (via free 311 calls) at any time during lockout to express their concerns. They added that all facility-based grievances are sent directly to the warden’s office for investigation.

 

According to DOC, in addition to the department’s existing COVID-19 prevention strategy, which officials said has proven effective, and was developed in conjunction with NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), DOC also designates at least one unit per facility for people confirmed to have COVID-19, in order to limit transmission.

 

DOC officials said that Correctional Health Services (CHS) also continues to offer the vaccine (including boosters) to people in custody; and said approximately 46 percent of people currently in custody have received at least one dose of the vaccine. They said CHS counsels and educates patients about the vaccine through direct provider-patient communication, as well as through written materials, produced and distributed in conjunction with the department.

 

As Chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice, I’ll work with all levels of government to address the humanitarian crises at Rikers Island and in our criminal legal system.

I echo the call of Defenders citywide, and invite @POTUS to tour Rikers when he visits NYC this week. pic.twitter.com/W7D4eMYWhK

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) February 1, 2022

 

 

They said both DOC and CHS continue to encourage people in custody to get vaccinated, an effort which has included messaging in weekly newsletters, posters, flyers, $100 incentives and $100 gift cards, as well as tablet video messages from Dr. Anthony Fauci, Orange is the New Black author, Piper Kerman, and Mets legend Mookie Wilson.

 

DOC officials said the rate of COVID in the jail system is currently lower than that of the City. They added that current testing positivity rates and active cases of people in custody will continue to be made available through the CHS COVID-19 Data Snapshot.

 

On the specific point about the Hats & Gloves campaign, the DOC spokesperson said, “We appreciate any donations, but we are not lacking any items. We distribute sweatshirts, long sleeve uniforms as well as hats during the winter months. Since September we have distributed over 6,000 hats to people in custody.” The official also reiterated the statement regarding the department’s Cold Weather Action plan, adding that DOC employees regularly check the temperatures of housing areas.

 

 

Last year, other groups like Halt Solitary and The Fortune Society critiqued the health and safety measures at State prisons amid the pandemic in February 2021, and we reached out at the time for comment to DOCCS. At that time, spokesperson, Thomas Mailey, said, the allegations regarding negligence were inaccurate. “Every facet of the State’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been guided by facts, scientific data, and the guidance of public health experts at NYS DOH and the CDC, and the work of DOCCS to protect the safety of New York’s incarcerated population is no different,” he said.

 

Mailey added that DOCCS had completed targeted testing of the entire incarcerated population in the State’s correctional facilities while continuing to follow science-based protocols established at the beginning of the pandemic. “As of Feb. 11, 2021, there have been 63,426 inmates tested with 56,906 negative cases, 5,584 positive cases (with 4,953 of those recovered), and 936 tests pending results,” he said at the time. He added that DOCCS began vaccinating staff and  incarcerated individuals 65 years or older, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 and as of that time, over 3,340 vaccinations had been administered, and vaccination efforts were continuing.

 

WITNESS is described as a queer, women, and formerly incarcerated-led organization whose mission is to center the voices of women and LGBTQ+ people in the movement towards alternatives to mass incarceration. Over the past four years, according to WITNESS officials, the group has organized incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people and those outside the criminal legal system around issues pertaining to the conditions of incarceration in New York City and across the country. “We have led successful legislative, economic, and direct material interventions against the harmful personal and community impacts of incarceration,” they wrote.

 

Rikers Island jail has, of course, long had a reputation for being an unsafe and violent place, where 16 inmates already died in custody last year, as reported by The New York Times, and other media outlets. Norwood News has also reported on concerns over conditions at the jail, both for the incarcerated population, particularly around the issue of solitary confinement, as well as concerns for the safety of DOC officers at the jail.

 

On Jan. 24, as reported, the Bronx District Attorney’s office announced charging a Rikers inmate with the attempted rape of a nurse and forcibly touching a DOC officer.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 4, 2021, as reported, a Bronx man was charged following an assault in the jail on a DOC officer. According to that investigation, on Oct. 13, 2021 at approximately 1.12 p.m. in the George R. Vierno Center of Rikers Island jail, the defendant in question allegedly approached the victim, brandishing a sharp metal object, several inches in length, and held the weapon to the officer’s neck.

 

Meanwhile, last December, we reported on a resource fair held in the Bronx and organized by Clark to help the formerly incarcerated get back on their feet post-release.

 

For his part, District 12 City Councilman Kevin Riley recently visited Rikers Island, saying in a recent tweet, “My surprise visit to Rikers Island with @OsseChi on Monday, January 31st, was challenging. It was disheartening to see some quality of life and staffing issues the detainees and correctional officers are facing.”

 

On the issue of protection from the cold, we also recently reported on an apparent trend in winter coat theft in the Bronx.

 

To donate online to the Hats & Gloves campaign, click here. For more information about WITNESS, go to https://www.witnesstomassincarceration.org/.