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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MARCH 29, 2020
‘DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN’
Coronavirus case at Brooklyn prison sparks calls to release vulnerable inmates
BY ROSE ADAMS
After an inmate at a Brooklyn
detention center was diagnosed
with COVID-19, activists have renewed
their demands for federal
authorities to release detainees vulnerable
to the virus.
“This is a real disaster waiting to
happen,” said David Patton, the executive
director of the Federal Defenders
of New York at a press conference
on March 22.
The male detainee — who was
arrested and brought to the Metropolitan
Detention Center in Sunset
Park while waiting a court date
on March 16 — fi rst complained
of chest pains on March 19, and
underwent coronavirus testing
at a nearby hospital, according
to a spokesperson at the Federal
Bureau of Prisons, who said the
test results came back positive on
March 21. The inmate had been
kept in isolation while awaiting offi
cial results, and his bunkmates
have since been quarantined, the
spokesperson added.
To stem the virus’ spread, authorities
have suspended all visits
to all federal jails, stopped inmates
from moving within facilities,
and are testing and quarantining
all new inmates, the bureau confi
rmed.
However, a group of public defenders
blasted those precautions
as infective at reducing the virus’
spread through the crowded
jails — which house a number of
inmates considered to be particularly
at risk.
About one-third of the 2,000 inmates
detained at Sunset Park’s
Metropolitan Detention Center
and Manhattan’s Metropolitan
Correctional Center are classifi ed
as within the “vulnerable population”
— meaning the virus is more
likely to be lethal if they contract
it, Patton said.
Both facilities — which mostly
house people awaiting their trials,
as well as some serving short sentences
— have a constant fl ow of
new arrests, which make them a
hotbed for disease, said Patton.
“These are places that are particularly
susceptible to contagion,”
Patton warned on March 22. “They
are not sanitary, social distancing
is not a possibility, they’re overcrowded.”
To truly mitigate coronavirus’
spread, Patton and a group of
elected offi cials claimed the US Attorney’s
Offi ce needed to release
vulnerable inmates who are not
deemed a risk to the general public,
and stop new inmates from
entering the premises to allow inmates
to be physically spread out.
“Mitigating efforts such as
physical distancing and frequent
hand washing is impossible in
jails. People are escorted most
places in correctional settings
so it’s very diffi cult for people to
stand six feet apart,” said Jonathan
Giftos, the former medical director
at Rikers Island. “The only
measure that will meaningfully
impact the spread coronavirus in
the jail system is to depopulate.”
Last week, authorities agreed to
release 56 vulnerable inmates from
Rikers Island, where about 38 people
have tested positive for the virus
as of March 23, the Associated
Press reported. Another 200 people
are being reviewed for release, according
to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Advocates, however, said that
offi cials have to release many
more inmates in order to reduce
the threat of further contagion.
“It needs to be an effi cient,
quick, and big effort, it can’t just
be a handful of people,” Patton
said. “We have several hundred
people who fall into the CDC vulnerable
category, and we need to
make a massive effort to get them
out of there
An inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park tested
positive for COVID-19. Federal Bureau of Prisons
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Call it stairwellness!
Brooklynites who have self-quarantined
to stop the spread of coronavirus
can still get fi t by imitating Borough President
Eric Adams, who took to social media
to show off some of his own workout
routines in the spacious foyer of Borough
Hall.
The beep posted a pair of videos on
Twitter demonstrating his fi tness routine,
which included doing pull-ups while
hanging from stairs and jumping jacks
on the landing, all while blasting rapper
Jay Z’s song “As One” through the governmental
building and ersatz exercise
emporium.
“I can’t get to the gym because of coronavirus;
all of our gyms are closed,” Adams
said in the video, which he posted
just after 11 pm on March 22. “You can
still exercise right in your own home,
and this is what I do while I’m in Borough
Hall.”
The Beep wrote: “Brooklyn! We GOT
this. During this time it is MORE IMPORTANT
THAN EVER to take care of our
bodies and our minds. I asked you to telemeditate
with me. Now I’m asking you to
telexercise with me.”
The late-night broadcasts came days
after Adams hosted a guided meditation
session with guru Jon Aaron on his You-
Tube channel, saying that Kings Countians
could all use the peace of mind that
comes from checking in with their spiritual
selves.
Adams has frequently professed the
benefi ts of keeping fi t, eating a vegan diet,
and remaining fl exible, but despite his recent
guides on how to get swole and stay
calm while confi ned within your own
home, the 2021 mayoral contender has
been slow to let his staff work remotely
during the pandemic outbreak.
He reportedly forced nearly his entire
65-member staff to commute to Borough
Hall until March 20, when he said that he
would follow Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s directive
to allow employees to telecommute,
according to the New York Post.
A spokesman confi rmed that Adams is
now letting his staff work remotely.
“In response the Governor’s order on
Friday for 100 percent of the workforce
to remain at home, we instituted an offi
ce-wide telecommuting policy effective
March 23,” Jonah Allon said.
WORKING IN
Beep shares workout routine
from inside Borough Hall
Borough President Eric Adams shared video of his workout while isolated at Borough Hall.
Photo via Twitter