NYC Spends $111 Million to Oversee Horrific Prison Conditions

After a series of lawsuits in the 1970s detailing reports of horrid conditions for inmates in New York City’s prison system, a New York judge appointed third-party monitors to review and improve conditions in the prison system.

Forty years and at least $111 million later, conditions in the prison system are still abysmal, according to a report from the New York Post.

The Office of Compliance Consultants is one of at least 11 federal or state appointed monitors charged with independent oversight of the prison system, to fix abysmal conditions in public housing and investigate racist practices in the NYPD and FDNY.

One would hope that after all this time and money, there would be improvement in the conditions of these prisons. Sadly, its seems like it was all for naught.

The Legal Aid Society, a group that represents the plaintiffs in a lawsuit, allege that the conditions are still horrific, the NY Post reports.

“People in custody are living in filth and darkness, and as a result of massive neglect and mismanagement, the jails and the people confined in them are in crisis,” the Society wrote to a judge in the fall.

The Post also reported use of excessive force on juveniles and inadequate healthcare for those with mental illness. Last year, 16 people died in Department of Correction custody, more than the 2019 and 2020 combined, The Post reported.

Outside of collecting checks, it doesn’t appear these monitors are doing much good.

The current plan to address the prison system’s shortcomings was proffered by former Mayor Bill de Blasio: to shut down one of the greatest offenders, the Rikers Island prison complex, and spend $9 billion to replace it with four smaller jails.

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