You are reading

City is Likely to Release ‘Hundreds’ of Inmates As Coronavirus Spreads Through Jails

Photo: Stock Unsplash

March 23, 2020 By Michael Dorgan

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that the city is considering releasing “hundreds” of inmates to slow the spread of coronavirus at its prison facilities.

The move comes after the mayor announced last week that 40 inmates from Rikers Island were set to be released on Friday. On Sunday he announced a further 23 prisoners from the city’s jail system were to be let out.

“There’s another group of about 200 inmates we’re reviewing today with the NYPD,” de Blasio said, noting that he is looking to release hundreds of inmates.

The inmates being released are said to have health issues– or are old– making them particularly vulnerable should they contract novel coronavirus. Most have a low-risk of re-offending, de Blasio said.

Inmates who are very close to the end of their sentences are also being considered, he said.

“Those are the categories we’re looking at and we’re going to announce day by day the number of people we think is appropriate and there’s going to be some people it obviously will not be appropriate to release, and we’re going to try and strike that balance,” he added.

The NYPD and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice are making the recommendations that must be signed off on by the relevant district attorney.

There are over 5,000 inmates in New York City’s jail system, de Blasio said, half the number from six years ago.

Among them is Oscar-winning movie producer Harvey Weinstein who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Weinstein, 68, who was at Rikers has been moved to the state’s maximum-security Wende Correctional Facility in Western New York. He is one of two Wende inmates who have tested positive, officials said.

Weinstein was at Rikers Island after being handed down a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in February.

The City announced Sunday that 29 inmates and 17 Department of Correction employees at Rikers have tested positive for coronavirus.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Maspeth woman charged with DUI after slamming SUV into school crossing guard: NYPD

A Maspeth woman was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and other crimes after she slammed her SUV into a school crossing guard on Tuesday afternoon.

Police from the 104th Precinct responded to a 911 call of a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian at the intersection of Eliot Avenue and 71st Street at around 3 p.m. on Sept. 26. Upon their arrival, officers found the 63-year-old woman lying on the roadway with trauma to her head. EMS responded to the scene and rushed the crossing guard to Elmhurst Hospital in critical but stable condition, according to the NYPD.

MTA providing shuttle from 7 train to traveling Vietnam War Memorial replica in Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Sep. 26, 2023 By Bill Parry

The MTA is working with the NYC Department of Veterans’ Affairs to provide shuttle bus service between the Mets-Willets Point 7 train station and Flushing Meadows Corona Park for all those wishing to visit the “The Wall that Heals,” a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., that honors the more than three million Americans who served in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam conflict.