In October, the Vernon C. Bain Center, a jail barge in the Bronx was closed. VCBC, as it was known, was the safest jail in NYC.
The Correction Department uses slashings and stabbings as a barometer for jail violence. So far this year there were 291 slashings and stabbings department wide, averaging 29 per month. However, only eight of those slashings occurred at VCBC averaging less than one per month. DOC’s own statistics confirm that VCBC, which has the capacity to hold 800 detainees, had the least violence.
Then why close the barge and transfer those incarcerated persons to Rikers Island jails that are out of control, besieged by jail gangs and overwhelmed by detainee violence? Is this closure in the best interests of those incarcerated?
Some of the detainees transferred will become victims of serious physical assaults, slashings, stabbings, extortion and theft. Those detainees will be swallowed into the “Belly of the Beast” which is overfed a daily diet of political failures and ineffective policies that are counterproductive to safety and inconsistent with the successful management of jails.
Further, closing VCBC is just another example of gentrification in the Big Apple, moving marginalized incarcerated persons out and eventually big business in. The jail barge is anchored adjacent to coveted waterfront real estate in the Bronx. Is the closure of the barge a land grab plan by big business and real estate developers obscured and supported by many New York politicians who are beholden to elite donors? These same politicians provide the facade of reform to the advocacy groups who believe that building new borough jails is the panacea to the chaos and dysfunction that now defines Rikers Island after 20 years of successful management. Jail reform has not been accomplished; instead detainee violence and deaths prevail and continue to loom over NYC jails.
A statistical analysis reveals that from 2021-2023 DOC reported 1,187 slashings and stabbings, about 400 per year. From 2007-2009, under the effective and successful leadership of former Correction Commissioner Martin Horn, there were a total of 65 slashings and stabbings, about 22 per year.
After time passes and camouflages the political guile and deception, will the Hunts Point waterfront property where the barge docked for over 30 years be used to develop the Bronx’s version of Manhattan’s South Street Seaport, replete with restaurants, cafes, shops, nightclubs and exclusive residential properties? This will create huge economic development and tax revenue for NYC.
Although many New Yorkers agree with economic development and expansion in the Bronx, was the decision to close the jail barge based on what’s best for the incarcerated population or instead what’s best for development and profit?
Reform and new jails are the bait. Profit is the hook. And although “the fish sees and pursues the bait, it doesn’t recognize the hook”. Some politicians claim they are acting in the best interests of those incarcerated when they are clearly not–as is evidenced by the devastating jail violence and in-custody deaths in recent years. And although some New Yorkers may agree with the economic development of Hunts Point, many Bronx residents are opposed to a high-rise jail built in their community.
In the last decade, both DOC and NYC have recklessly disregarded warning signs, resulting in NYC jails becoming among the most violent and dysfunctional in America.
