Legal Aid Society condemns NYC jail system for unsanitary living conditions outlined in report

The Legal Aid Society is blasting the city’s Department of Correction for dangerous living conditions within its troubled jail system, including facilities on Rikers Island, as outlined in a new report detailing vermin infestations, fire hazards and a neglected ventilation system.

Less than 60% of intake and living areas within the city’s jail system are compliant with court sanitation orders, according to the report released by the Office of Compliance Consultants as part of its periodic monitoring of the DOC. The presence of vermin – including mice, spiders and other bugs – also increased during the monitoring period, which took place between May and August.

“People in custody are people too, and they deserve to live in conditions that respect their human dignity,” Lauren Stephens-Davidowitz, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners' Rights Project, told Gothamist on Sunday. “The report shows that they are not living in those conditions, and that is a threat to their safety and well being.’

The DOC did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

More than 6,000 inmates live in the city’s jails system, estimates from the city comptroller show. Gothamist has previously reported on various problems with living conditions at Rikers, including inmates being locked in caged showers and outbreaks of violence.

OCC's report comes as the city’s jails chief recently announced he was leaving his position to join City Hall as an assistant deputy mayor for public safety. But the official, Louis Molina, will continue to receive the same salary and work with the DOC, Mayor Eric Adams' office later confirmed. Molina's replacement has not yet been announced.

In addition to the presence of vermin, the jail system’s ventilation system and fire watch program are both being routinely neglected, according to the report. The monitor singled out the Robert N. Davoren Complex, a Bronx prison, for a vermin infestation and described arthropod larvae at another Bronx location, the George R. Vierno Center.

Stephens-Davidowitz attributed the worsening conditions across the city's jails to chronic neglect.

“The report’s findings are consistent with a horrifying pattern of the Department of Correction’s continued disregard for the safety of the people in its care,” she said. “If you continue to neglect sanitation, ventilation, and fire safety, those issues just get worse.”