Results tagged “rikersisland”

The 15-year-old Bronx girl who was put in a medically-induced coma after taking a stray bullet to the skull has spoken for the first time since the incident, eight days ago. A source tells the Daily News that Vada Vasquez's first word was "Mom." Her condition has been upgraded to stable and a spokeswoman at Lincoln Hospital says, "She's improving. She's in stable condition and recognizes family members."

The list of Rikers Island guards accused of abusing inmates continues to grow longer. Correction Officer Timothy Munroe, 24, of Brooklyn was indicted on charges of assault, falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing, among others, the NY Times reports.

If Plaxico Burress fans want an up-to-date jersey of the Super Bowl hero wide receiver, they're going to have to ditch those #17 duds in favor of his new number, 09-R-3260. The former Giant star left court and headed to Ulster Correctional Facility where he was given a shave and a haircut and strip searched out of the jeans he was wearing. Burress neglected to arrive at prison in the notorious sweatpants that sent him there.

Apparently Orthodox Jews weren't the only ones getting preferential treatment while inside the city's prison walls. It appears that the Department of Corrections might have a systematic breakdown going on according to reports in today's Post about the way that various prison officials pampered rap star Foxy Brown while she was doing time at Riker's Island until her release last April.

The family of a man who died from a lacerated liver during an altercation with correction officers at Rikers Island will sue the city for $10 million. Clarence Mobley, 60, was in custody at the jail on May 2nd, awaiting a psychiatric evaluation related to robbery charges, when he "took a swing" at an officer with a metal tray. He was subdued and placed in a holding cell, and was later found dead. Yesterday the medical examiner ruled it a homicide, finding that Mobley died from a tear in his liver caused by a blow; NYPD investigators are still looking into the incident. Mobley had taken a bus from North Carolina to NYC on April 25th to attend a family funeral, but he never contacted his family when he arrived, for reasons unknown to them. Five days later he was arrested trying to break into an apartment in Queens. His son Darian tells the Times, "Everybody is hurting. My father didn’t deserve that. He was a little guy." The civil lawsuit is just the latest related to a death at Rikers, where corruption among the guards is allegedly endemic.

Anyone have a spare block of extra firm tofu, a nail file, and a soft spot for graffiti gal UTAH? She's currently doing time on Riker's Island, and allegedly she can't get her hands on any vegan grub. Animal reports that after a friend visited her there, he reported back via Twitter, saying: “She said it’s not so bad, like a ghetto sleepaway camp. Suave shamps. She is starving b/c she is vegan. No tempeh on the island apparently.” The Department of Corrections directs inmates with special dietary needs to a nutritionist, who can issue an ID card for vegan meal procurement. Of course, it's actually easier to send a lawsuit-threatening letter than to go through this process successfully. And that is exactly what UTAH had to do in order to get soy milk and peanut butter.

Yesterday, the Health Department confirmed that an eighth New Yorker died of swine flu. The victim was over age 65 and had underlying conditions that made the flu more dangerous. The NY Times reports that the underlying conditions can "include being over 65 or under 2, having respiratory or immune system problems or being obese," (previously mentioned conditions also include heart disease, pregnancy, diabetes, kidney problems, blood disorders, emphysema, liver problems). Health Department spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti said people with the flu and underlying conditions or severe symptoms should seek medical attention, "While most of New York City’s H1N1 deaths involve people with established risk factors, influenza can be fatal in otherwise healthy people." In other news, four assistant prosecutors at the Bronx DA's office may have swine flu—none of the cases is confirmed yet but the office is being cleaned—and an inmate at Rikers filed a notice of claim against the city, because of the swine flu-prompted lockdown in his area (it's unclear if he has swine flu).

Last week, six schools were closed last week due to high numbers of students having swine flu-like symptoms. Now, teachers union the United Federation of Teachers says 18 other schools have had high numbers of absent students—and that the Health Department should monitor them for possible closure.

After closing three schools on Thursday due to swine flu symptoms in many students, the city closed three more—JHS 74 in Bayside, Queens and P.S. 107 in Flushing, Queens and I.S. 318 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Students at those three schools also exhibited "unusually high levels of influenza-like illnesses." Health Department Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said, "Despite the significant disruption this causes, the Health Department has recommended closing these schools to reduce the spread of influenza. We are continuing to carefully monitor H1N1 virus throughout the City, and are taking action again today because there are unusually high and increasing levels of flu-like illnesses at these three public schools."

The Department of Corrections says a 60-year-old Rikers Island inmate, who had gotten into a fight with guards earlier, died in his cell. According to Newsday, Clarence Mobley "had assaulted a correction officer with a meal tray and had to be subdued and removed to a separate holding pen by other officers" on Saturday night. Apparently the guards had been preparing to transport him to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation when Mobley lashed out. A DOC spokesman said that later on Mobley was found unresponsive in his cell. An autopsy found Mobley, arrested on April 30 for breaking into a Queens beauty salon, died of "liver laceration due to blunt trauma of the torso." The DOC is investigating.

A Bronx man accused of rape thought he could beat the charges if he could get rid of his alleged victim and a witness—the problem was that he hired an undercover cop to take care of it for him. Anthony Perez told the cop—who posed as a hitman—that he would pay him $100,000 to kill the woman who accused him of rape and a witness who was in the apartment where the incident allegedly took place in April 2006. The "hitman" met with Perez at Rikers Island where he's being detained and was provided a gun he could use, the name and address of one of the women and as well as a plan by Perez to lure the second intended victim to the first woman’s apartment. Perez also connected his hired gun to Tawana Leggett, who the undercover cop would call and signal his success in offing the two women with the code "get your suit and shoelaces ready.” Perez was arrested at Rikers for the new charges after the seven-month sting.

Bronx Assistant DA James Goward says "scores" of adolescent inmates at Rikers Island were victimized by a gang of prisoners following orders from a pair of corrupt jail guards. One inmate,18-year-old Christopher Robinson, wound up dead last October, and an indictment unsealed in January named guard Michael McKie as "the architect of a criminal enterprise that recruited and trained inmates to inflict violence. They turned jail into almost a nightmare environment."

took him to the shower room for no apparent reason. The Post reports she is being investigated for "undue familiarity" with Woods.

Remy Ma, better known for her court hearings than for her Grammy nomination, is having trouble becoming "an honest woman," as the saying goes. The rapper was supposed to be married on Rikers Island yesterday to her fiancée Papoose -- but when her groom brought a questionable gift for his bride, the wedding was called off.

Rappers Remy Ma and Papoose are finally tying the knot today at a ceremony on the exclusive Rikers Island, and the rain is the least of their problems. Papoose, who recently duped the Bed-Stuy volunteer EMTs for his video, has been planning the big day as his lady resides behind bars. This would have made for a fantastic hour of reality television had they filmed the process for Bridezillas, considering on just an average night out Remy Ma shot her friend in the stomach.

Last we heard, rapper Foxy Brown, who has been on Rikers for about 8 months now, was trying to get an early release because of her "hearing problems". Deaf or not, something worked, and this week she'll be a free woman once again.

Remy Ma, who is possibly more famous now for what landed her in jail than for her music, is still managing to make headlines from behind bars. A little first-degree assault and weapons charges aren't going to stand in the way of her dream wedding, to be held later this month on a little island off the coast of the Bronx.

The man accused of killing his niece's ex-husband at a Queens playground last fall sat down for jailhouse interview and emphasized he's innocent. Mikahil Mallayev, a resident of Georgia but is now being held at Rikers, spoke to WCBS 2's Scott Weinberger.

The Department of Correction has begun serving New York City’s 14,000 prisoners a healthier diet of fruit, fiber-rich cereals, skim milk and whole wheat bread. Sugar-sweetened beverages are forbidden, and soon unsweetened muffins will replace sweetened ones. Fried foods have been off the menu for years, and has city has drastically reduced the amount of red meat served, placing a greater emphasis on chicken, fish and tofu.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: person under a train at 71st St. and 16th Ave. in Brooklyn, a stabbing on 112th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan, and a bank robbery at Ave. of the Americas and West 18th St. in Manhattan.
• The Times wonders if people will be hoarding pre-rate-increase Metrocards the way token buyers used to stock up before a fare hike.
• A 17-year-old from Mt. Vernon was being held at Rikers Island after he was accused of statutory rape for having sex with a 14-year-old girl, and the judge who sent him there ordered that he should be put under suicide watch. The teenager was put into the jail's general population instead and he hung himself within 24 hours.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Richmond Ave. on Staten Island, an injured corrections officer at Rikers Island in the Bronx, and a gas leak on East 68th St. in Manhattan.
• Chris Booker, the NY radio DJ boyfriend of Philly news personality Alycia Lane who allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer after calling her a dyke, says that she's being singled out because "[she's] a babe." Or it's because she allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer in the face after calling her a dyke.
• The Observer directs the politically inclined to Iowa Caucus-watching parties around town.

The city's last privately owned island was sold to the federal government for $2 million. South Brother Island, a 7-acre island (just west of Rikers Island), will be turned over to the city's Parks and Recreation Department and will remain, as amNew York reports, "significant nesting colony for several types of shore birds, including Egrets, Cormorant, and Night Herons." According to the NY Times, the deal, which was "brokered by the Trust for Public...

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a suspicious package at Broadway and Wall St. in Manhattan, a shooting at 158th St. and Linden Blvd. in Queens, and a homicide on Popham Ave. in the Bronx. Local One, New York's stagehands union, doesn't want Mayor Bloomberg to mediate in their negotiations with Broadway producers and theater owners. A 40-year-old Staten Island bus driver is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old frequent passenger on his route. The...

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water main break on Pacific St. in Brooklyn, an armed robbery on Jamaica Ave. in Queens, and a burn victim on West 165th St. in the Bronx. Spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy reportedly accomplished many feats during his life, but still died at his home in Queens, NY. A fight among members of a group of men, who were turned away from a Chelsea nightclub because they didn't meet...

A recently settled lawsuit will likely result in fewer strip searches of prisoners at Rikers Island. The suit was filed on behalf of tens of thousands of New Yorkers jailed on misdemeanor charges. The Corrections Office settled a suit yesterday after being sued on behalf of thousands of inmates who were strip-searched at Rikers. The prisoners could collect $3,000 to $4,000 a piece as a result of the agreement. The suit was filed in reaction to the continued noncompliance regarding the practice of prisoner searches following a prior agreement reached in 2002, which stipulated that paper gowns would be provided to people undergoing a search.

Francis Evelyn, the school custodian who was arrested and jailed at Rikers Island after an eight-year-old girl accused him of repeatedly molesting her in the school's basement, is suing the city for $10 million. Evelyn's accuser was a troubled child with a relatively long history of lying about abuse, including accusing her father of raping her. According to The Daily News, her initial description of a man who purportedly abused her was that he was white and bald. Evelyn is bald, but black.

The death of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown shocked the city in January of last year. The child was beaten to death in her family's Brooklyn apartment and a history of abuse, including being tied up to a chair and showing up to school with bruises (when she would appear in school on rare occasions), had been noted by the Administration for Children's Services who seemingly did nothing to intervene.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a vessel in distress off Rikers Island in the East River, a dead body found in the East River off Roosevelt Island and Queens, and an industrial accident on 52nd Ave. in Queens.
• Confirming recent speculation, The New York Times is cancelling its TimesSelect initiative, in which people subscribed to read a number of columnists and other special online content.
• Mayor Bloomberg signed autographs, greeted courtroom personnel, and posed for a court artist's portrait, but was ultimately dismissed by one or both of the lawyers choosing from 40 potential jurors today. He did not take it personally.
• Norman Siegel is defending Rev. Billy, who was arrested on harrassment charges for reciting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in Union Square. Part of Siegel's strategy is to argue that the use of harrassment charges insinuates that there was some sort of romantic relationship between cops and Rev. Billy, as harrassment is normally reserved for "ex-boyfriend sexual stalkers and drunk husbands."
• The principal of a Manhattan public high school hosted a Santeria ritual at her school while no students were present. The officiant at the Afro-Caribbean religion's ceremony received school funds for other services and the assistant principle was asked to pay $900 towards the cost.
• Less than three-tenths of the money in a special fund dedicated to bridge and highway work was allegedly spent improving New York's infrastructure in 2004-2005. An upstate lawmaker claims that the money is being used to cover non-infrastructure general budget items.
• Brooklyn Heights Blog notes someone's complaint that on one of the hottest weekend days of the year, one may have to wait for hours to take a dip in a free public pool on the East River.
• Astronaut Photography of Earth includes an impressive shot of Brooklyn from space.

Hundreds of police officers headed to Brooklyn's criminal court for the arraignment of Dexter Bostic and Robert Ellis, suspected of shooting two Brooklyn police officers who had pulled over their stolen SUV during an early Monday morning traffic stop. Bostic and Ellis, who had been extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday, were held without bail. Neither man spoke during the arraignment, which formally charged them each with "two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault on a police officer, hindering prosecution, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence." Bostic was charged with violating his parole as well.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a found grenade(!) at Sedgwick Ave. and Depot Pl. in the Bronx, a child abduction on 8th Ave. and 150th St. in Manhattan, and a person struck by a train on 103rd St. and Roosevelt Ave. in Queens.
• A New Jersey State Police report concluded that the unauthorized use of flashing emergency lights by his driver didn't cause Governor Corzine's near-fatal crash, but it did contribute significantly to the accident by initiating the chain of events.
• Your apartment is only as small as your imagination and creativity, and a retired steamfitter who lives in Peter Cooper Village knows it.
• Parents Against Styrofoam in Schools (P.A.S.S.) are objecting to the approximately four million styrofoam trays used in New York's public schools every week.
• The woman charged with robbing rapper Foxy Brown was released from Rikers Island after her alleged victim failed to appear at the accused's grand jury hearing.
• Brownstoner notes that the DUMBO pedestrian plaza is coming together at a record pace.
• Before new city noise regulations kick in July 1, Stereogum rates the 20 Loudest Albums of All Time.
• Mayor Bloomberg lashed out against special tax breaks that could hand developer Bruce Ratner an extra $300 million for developing Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards. Mayor Mike hopes Gov. Spitzer will quash the "carve-out" benefit.