Latest news with #RikersIsland
New York Times
6 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
Mentally Ill Detainees Are Trapped in Legal Limbo, Lawsuit Says
Hundreds of mentally ill detainees who were found unfit to stand trial are languishing in New York City's jails because the state has been too slow in moving them through its byzantine treatment system, a public defender organization said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Under New York State law, people who are too mentally ill to understand the charges against them and aid in their own defense are supposed to be restored to competency in a hospital operated by the state Office of Mental Health before their legal proceedings can continue. But bed and staffing shortages at the hospitals have led to long delays in people receiving the care, leaving them to linger amid disorder and dangerous conditions on Rikers Island, the suit said. A class action, it was filed by the Legal Aid Society and a New York University law clinic in Federal District Court in Manhattan. More than half the people in city custody are mentally ill, records show, and on any given day about 100 people are held on Rikers Island while awaiting transfer to be restored to competency, the suit said. The average wait time for a bed is about two and a half months, the suit said. Some wait longer: In 2024, 130 people spent more than 100 days on waiting lists for the treatment. In some cases, the long delays have proved fatal. At least five people who have died after being held on Rikers Island since 2021 had been ordered to be restored to competency, the suit said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
14-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Footage of Inmate Suicide Captures Dysfunction on Rikers Island
As calls mounted for a federal court takeover of the Rikers Island jail system in New York City, what happened to Michael Nieves stood out as a case study in that system's dysfunction. Mr. Nieves, 40, was being held in the troubled jails on arson and other charges — his trial date repeatedly delayed by the pandemic and a series of mental health assessments — when he used a shaving razor to cut himself near the jugular vein and bled out on the floor as jail staff members waited for medical assistance. The fatal episode was foreshadowed by other incidents in his recent past. While being held in the Bellevue Hospital Prison ward, Mr. Nieves, who had schizophrenia, had used another shaving razor to cut a gash in his neck — surviving only after emergency surgery. And he had been placed on suicide watch just months before he died, after he was heard saying he no longer wanted to live. New York Times reporters filed a freedom of information request for video of Mr. Nieves's death and other cases of preventable harm in the jails, seeking to learn more about how jail staff members responded during the incidents. The Times then sued the city to force compliance with the state's open records law. The city provided the videos three years later, with the faces of detainees blurred and some information redacted. Made public here for the first time, they offer a window into a jail system in the grips of crisis. Mr. Nieves was one of 19 Rikers Island detainees who died by suicide, overdose or medical emergency in 2022, with most of the deaths deemed preventable by oversight officials. A city medical examiner found that the officers' inaction contributed to Mr. Nieves's death, but that he could have died even if he had immediately received emergency aid. The State attorney general's office declined to charge the officers, noting in a report that the correction department's policy on tending to severely bleeding inmates was unclear. Three years later, the department is building out a new 'medical emergencies' curriculum, a spokesman said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Legendary Rapper Says He Fears for His Kids at School Drop-Off
Legendary Rapper Says He Fears for His Kids at School Drop-Off originally appeared on Parade. When you've got a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, 40-plus years of hits with Public Enemy, and a reality-TV resume that refuses to quit, you'd think the scariest part of your day would be dodging paparazzi. But for Flavor Flav, the real panic sets in when he pulls up to the school curb. 'I fear for my kids when I drop them off at school,' the 66-year-old rapper wrote in a Thursday, July 2 Newsweek op-ed that calls for a total U.S. gun ban. 'Our schools aren't safe and our kids aren't safe.' 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Flav (real name: William Drayton Jr.) is dad to eight kids across four different relationships. He shares daughters Shanique, Karren, and Kayla with his ex Karen Ross. He has Da'Zyna, Quanah, and William with ex Angie Parker. His son Karma is from his relationship with longtime partner Liz Trujillo, and his youngest, Jordan, was born in 2019 with his ex-manager Kate Gammell. It's take yo kids and grandkids to the rink at @rockcenternyc season,!!! ⛸️🧊 — FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) October 12, 2024 The Flavor of Love star says his worry comes from 'first-hand experience.' 'Guns are falling into the hands of the wrong people. I would know. I went to jail because of guns. I ended up on Rikers Island,' he wrote, recalling the firearm conviction that landed him behind bars in the early '90s. Many of y'all have opinions without reading the article. Guns did affect my life when they were brought into the black communities,,, so I speak from a place of experience. The only thing I'm carrying now is the conversation. — FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) July 4, 2025 Now, he argues, weak laws have created 'domestic errorism' that slaps 'a price tag on the heads of our children.' The warning couldn't be clearer. CNN's running tally shows 23 U.S. school shootings so far this year — nine dead and 33 injured as of May 13 — spanning college campuses and K–12 hallways alike. By comparison, ABC News (via the K–12 School Shooting Database) reports that 2024 saw 330 K–12 school shooting incidents, the second-highest total since at least 1966 (which is as 'far back as the data goes'), surpassed only by the 349 incidents recorded in 2023. 'Fear and power are two of the biggest emotions that drive us,' Flav wrote. 'Let our fear of losing our children be more powerful than our fear of our next-door neighbor.' That belief fuels 'March Madness,' the protest single he and Chuck D released on Juneteenth. It opens with a real 911 call from a teacher reporting 'a school shooting and begging for help.' BLACK SKIES OVER THE PROJECT (Apartment) 2025PUBLIC ENEMY drop surprise new album,!!We hear you and we here to still Fight the Power with ya as The Hits Keep On CominYou can't stream it but you can pay what you want for the next 72 hours at bandcamp.… — FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) June 27, 2025 Flav says the goal is to restart a national conversation. He hopes the song gives a voice to people who feel powerless and helps build what he calls a 'wall of unity' strong enough to stand up to fear and division. 💪 SIGN UP for tips to stay healthy & fit with the top moves, clean eats, health trends & more delivered right to your inbox twice a week 💪 'I hope this song sparks change,' he wrote. 'I hope this anthem gives a voice to those who feel powerless against a system of power and greed." The track appears on Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025, a surprise album Public Enemy released in late June on Bandcamp. It's their first new music since What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?, which was released on September 25, 2020. Legendary Rapper Says He Fears for His Kids at School Drop-Off first appeared on Parade on Jul 4, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Le Figaro
04-07-2025
- Le Figaro
'It's a Pressure Cooker': Inside Rikers Island, New York's Notorious Jail Plagued by Drugs and Violence
Réservé aux abonnés Various problems have reached such a critical point that federal authorities have stripped New York City of control over the notorious Rikers Island jail complex — once slated for closure but still holding nearly 7,000 detainees. "New York's Boldest" reads a faded mural in the parking lot of Rikers Island, echoing the Department of Correction's (D.O.C.) motto. The peeling paint blends into the backdrop of armored vans, barbed wire and overgrown weeds. To the east, a narrow waterway separates the jail from LaGuardia Airport, its runway ending just a hundred meters from the prison fence. Further west, the sleek skyline of Manhattan seems to look away from its troubled counterpart. The four nights Dominique Strauss-Kahn spent in Rikers' West Facility — reserved for high-profile inmates — seared the place into French public consciousness. During his stay, the former International Monetary Fund managing director received special treatment: a private cell, walks outside and solo showers. Harvey Weinstein now enjoys similar accommodations. An old three-lane bridge from Queens is the jail's only link to New York City. Of the 6,800 inmates currently held, nearly 6,000 are awaiting trial. But chronic gridlock in the criminal…
New York Times
03-07-2025
- New York Times
A Lawyer Was Wrongly Charged With Bringing Drug-Laced Papers Into Rikers
A public defender was visiting a client at Rikers last month, armed with papers he had printed out from his own computer to prepare for his client's upcoming trial on robbery charges. After the defender, Bernardo Caceres, 30, consulted with the client, he was flagged by a Correction Department dog, and his papers were tested for drugs. He was detained in a Rikers holding cell for two hours and then told his materials had tested positive for THC, the main psychoactive chemical compound in marijuana, Mr. Caceres said. He was arrested and charged with promoting prison contraband, and the accusations were widely broadcast in local news outlets. But on Tuesday, the day he was scheduled to appear in court, the Bronx district attorney's office called his lawyer to say the charges were being dropped, Mr. Caceres said. Subsequent testing had come back clean. A spokeswoman for the office confirmed on Thursday that Mr. Caceres's case had been dismissed and sealed. 'My name was smeared and my reputation clearly damaged,' Mr. Caceres said. 'Pretty much the only thing on the internet about me were accusations of me being a drug peddler.' Mr. Caceres and his lawyers said this was not the first time the Correction Department's drug testing was inaccurate and resulted in a false arrest. Earl Ward, a lawyer for Mr. Caceres, said that the Department of Corrections had 'been on notice' about inaccurate results, referring to a 2024 report published by the city's Department of Investigation that said the Correction Department's drug-testing results were often flawed. 'This is someone who is a professional,' Mr. Ward said. 'He had his face plastered all over the media as a drug smuggler.' And, Mr. Caceres said, his client is 'back to square zero' since his lawyer's arrest resulted in a mistrial. He is still in Rikers. 'I want the world to know what's going on, and just how wrong it is,' Mr. Caceres said. 'Because I'm not the first. And while I hope to be the last, I don't expect to be.' Following the arrest, the Department of Correction said that Mr. Caceres's papers were discolored, which can indicate the presence of drugs. The department declined to comment on the new results. Mr. Caceres worked for Queens Defenders, which represents indigent clients, at the time of his arrest. He has since been hired by Brooklyn Defender Services, which recently took over the Queens Defenders contract.
