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IMF chief headed for notorious Rikers Island jail
Source: Agencies |
May 17, 2011, Tuesday
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IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a man accustomed to luxury hotel suites and first-class plane travel, will make his home for now at New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail.
Strauss-Kahn will be transferred from a detention center attached to the Manhattan Criminal Court to Rikers Island yesterday, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Correction said.
A judge earlier yesterday denied Strauss-Kahn bail on charges that he attempted to rape a hotel maid and set his next court date for Friday.
Defense lawyers said they were considering whether to appeal the bail ruling. Should the judge uphold his ruling, Strauss-Kahn could be held at Rikers throughout any trial.
Strauss-Kahn will probably be held in isolation with 24-hour watch, in large part for his own protection from inmates who might seek fame by attacking someone famous, according to people familiar with the jail operations who would not speak on the record.
A complex of 10 jails on a 415-acre (168-hectare) island near LaGuardia airport, Rikers is well-known to watchers of television and film crime dramas as the place where criminal suspects are sent pending trial or to serve short jail sentences. The island can be reached via bridge from the borough of Queens.
Dating to the 1930s, the Rikers complex holds about 11,000 inmates on any given day.
Both Rikers and the courthouse detention center, best known as "The Tombs," are harsh, loud and dangerous.
"It's crowded and the food is terrible. And one of the dangerous things is famous people are preyed upon," said Gerald Lefcourt, a well-known defense attorney, referring to both places.
"There are really heavy duty prison bars and gates that make a lot of clanging sounds every time they are open and closed," Lefcourt said.
New inmates undergo a thorough assessment of their history and criminal associations. Guards look for tattoos or other signs of gang affiliation. Jail officials then assign a score to determine the inmate's security risk.
Low-risk inmates tend to be housed in crowded dormitories holding dozens of people.
Strauss-Kahn will very likely be able to wear his own clothes, and bring books with him to jail and read the newspaper daily. Common rooms have television.
A typical meal will include meat and vegetables with plenty of starch on the side to help prisoners feel full.
So why is Rikers so hated? The size of the place, combined with the uncertain future that inmates face, contribute to their anxiety.
"Uncertainty breeds tension," said one source familiar with jail operations.
Strauss-Kahn will be transferred from a detention center attached to the Manhattan Criminal Court to Rikers Island yesterday, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Correction said.
A judge earlier yesterday denied Strauss-Kahn bail on charges that he attempted to rape a hotel maid and set his next court date for Friday.
Defense lawyers said they were considering whether to appeal the bail ruling. Should the judge uphold his ruling, Strauss-Kahn could be held at Rikers throughout any trial.
Strauss-Kahn will probably be held in isolation with 24-hour watch, in large part for his own protection from inmates who might seek fame by attacking someone famous, according to people familiar with the jail operations who would not speak on the record.
A complex of 10 jails on a 415-acre (168-hectare) island near LaGuardia airport, Rikers is well-known to watchers of television and film crime dramas as the place where criminal suspects are sent pending trial or to serve short jail sentences. The island can be reached via bridge from the borough of Queens.
Dating to the 1930s, the Rikers complex holds about 11,000 inmates on any given day.
Both Rikers and the courthouse detention center, best known as "The Tombs," are harsh, loud and dangerous.
"It's crowded and the food is terrible. And one of the dangerous things is famous people are preyed upon," said Gerald Lefcourt, a well-known defense attorney, referring to both places.
"There are really heavy duty prison bars and gates that make a lot of clanging sounds every time they are open and closed," Lefcourt said.
New inmates undergo a thorough assessment of their history and criminal associations. Guards look for tattoos or other signs of gang affiliation. Jail officials then assign a score to determine the inmate's security risk.
Low-risk inmates tend to be housed in crowded dormitories holding dozens of people.
Strauss-Kahn will very likely be able to wear his own clothes, and bring books with him to jail and read the newspaper daily. Common rooms have television.
A typical meal will include meat and vegetables with plenty of starch on the side to help prisoners feel full.
So why is Rikers so hated? The size of the place, combined with the uncertain future that inmates face, contribute to their anxiety.
"Uncertainty breeds tension," said one source familiar with jail operations.
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