It’s about the prison the film’s producer passed through Harvey Weinstein and the killer of John Lennon. Even the rapper Tupac Shakur and the former head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn. It is nothing less than Rikers Island, hellish prison in new yorkaccording to former US inmates.

Authorities and former detainees say conditions at the site have significantly deteriorated in the huge complex with the lack of staff during the pandemic.

school of gladiators

Johnny Perez he spent several seasons at Rikers, between 1996 and 2001, on charges of robbery and possession of weapons.“It’s the wild west in there”it states.

For Glen Martinwho was stabbed four times in one attack during his three-year tenure at Rikers, is a “hell hole”. He arrived in that prison after being arrested for shoplifting when he was just 16 in the late 1980s.

“They call it ‘for a reason’gladiator school ‘“, admitted this man of about 60 years a AFPbefore mentioning that it is also known as the “torture island”.

Marvin Mayfieldwho spent 22 months on two convictions in the 1980s and then in 2007 for robbery, which Rikers leaves “a stain on anyone’s soul” who was inside.

Prison of 1932

The prison, with its reputation as a den of violence, opened in 1932, and there are many who mention that incidents against inmates and guards occur due to its isolation in the middle of the East River. between the municipalities of the Bronx and Queens.

Towards the end of 2021 the complaints that the center-right failed to comply with minimum health services and suicide attempts were on the rise. And the situation has become even more complicated for both the prisoners and the guards.

“What I saw was a humanitarian crisis. A house of horrors of abuse and neglect,” the lawmaker said at the time. Emily Gallagherafter visiting the detention center.

“There is garbage everywhere, spoiled food, butts, cockroaches, worms in the showers, feces and urine”Gallagher tweeted, adding that inmates with broken bones are not being treated.

The New York City Department of Correction (DOC) reported more than a dozen people had died in Rikers in 2021compared to seven in 2020 and three in 2019.

Year of deaths: 2021

The DOC’s fight against staff shortages has been intensified by the pandemic restrictions, leaving the detainees themselves adrift.

They claim that it has achieved some 2,700 guards were discharged – nearly a third of the total for the entire city – as the coronavirus devastated US prisons.

Unions said the staff were overwhelmed, as they had to work up to three shifts in a row. They also report that many were absent due to lack of security.

That’s why Mayor Bill de Blasio came to launch a contingency plan to hire more staff and sanctioning unjustified absences. Also, make any necessary repairs.

The number of prisoners in Rikers has risen from around 20,000 in the 1990s to 6,000 recently. Most are black and Latino awaiting trial.

Johnny Pérez returned for a visit to do social work and confirmed conditions had not improved since he was released. “It’s ten times worse,” he said AFP.

Lawyers and criminologists have been calling for the prison to be closed for years due to deteriorating facilities and its reputation for violence.

Indeed, its closure is scheduled for 2026. The mayor had launched a $ 8.7 billion project to build four smaller towns to replace it.

“It is a cancer. it cannot be repaired. It has to be destroyed, “concludes Mayfield, 59.

With information from AFP