Crisis at Frigid, Dark NYC Prison: “A Choice Was Made Not to Treat People Like Human Beings”

- This is Part 2 of our conversation with New York City Councilmember Brad Lander about the crisis at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn this weekend when reports spread widely on social media that over 1,600 prisoners were being held without heat, hot meals or electricity, including during last week’s polar vortex. Hundreds rallied throughout the weekend to protest the conditions. On Sunday afternoon, some of the protesters and family members of those incarcerated were pepper-sprayed by guards. Lander also responds to criticism of New York City’s plans to build four new jails to replace Rikers.

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