Why Does Rikers Island Still Lock People in Shower Stalls?
So-called “de-escalation units” were supposed to help people cool off after violent encounters. But months after their implementation, Rikers staff still use the old brutal methods.
Chris Gelardi · March 22, 2023

Security footage shows fights breaking out at an overcrowded intake holding area at Rikers Island’s Eric M. Taylor Center on June 16, 2022. | New York City Board of Correction

Security camera footage shows Kevin Bryan sleeping on the floor of a crowded pen at the Eric M. Taylor Center’s intake area, where he was kept for 23 hours on September 8, 2022. A week later, he hanged himself in the jail.
| New York City Board of Correction

The “decontamination unit” and flooded floor of the de-escalation unit at Rikers Island’s Eric M. Taylor Center.
| New York City Board of Correction

Chris Gelardi is a reporter for New York Focus investigating the state’s criminal-legal system. His work has appeared in more than a… more
Also filed in
Criminal Justice
The governor’s team coordinated meetings between her failed chief judge nominee and Senate Republicans in the days before a key committee vote, emails show.
Formerly incarcerated "peers" offer drug counseling to people in county jails — when they can get in.
A new bill would subject the state prison system to independent oversight for sexual assault complaints. The Senate has two weeks to bring it to a floor vote.
Also filed in
New York City
Police will receive photos of defendants with curfews and report alleged violations to District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Comptroller Brad Lander is scrutinizing the climate impacts of private equity investments — an area his counterpart in Albany has yet to address.
As ASA College prepares to shut its doors after years of controversy, New York continues to shell out tuition subsidies to for-profit colleges — at rates higher than any other state.