BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
Offi cials at a federal Sunset
Park prison violated the constitutional
rights of more than
1,600 incarcerated men by
forcing the inmates to endure
freezing temperatures, and
barring them from speaking
with their lawyers, during a
week-long power outage, according
to a new lawsuit.
Attorneys with the Federal
Defenders of New York
— an independent group that
defends vulnerable people accused
of federal crimes — on
Monday fi led the suit against
Feds with the Bureau of Prisons,
which operates the Metropolitan
Detention Center, and
its warden, Herman Quay.
The suit claims conditions
inside the prison are “inhumane,”
and alleges that Quay
and other brass at the 29th
Street jail between Second and
Third avenues did not move
fast enough to restore heat and
power after a Jan. 27 electrical
fi re that caused “wide-ranging
power outages” resulting
in “little to no heating” inside
the building during some of
the borough’s coldest days on
record, when temperatures
plunged to below 10 degrees
Farenheit.
“There is a humanitarian
crisis taking place at the
main federal detention facility
in this district,” the lawsuit
reads . “They have been slow
to acknowledge the problem
and have not taken suffi cient
steps to obtain temporary supplies
of electricity or heat, or
to repair the damage.”
Following the fi re, prison
offi cials also cancelled legal
and social visits until Feb. 4
without adequate explanations,
according to the suit,
which claims that Quay said
the heat had “never been impacted”
hours before the Federal
Defenders’s attorney-inchief
visited the facility and
found the inmates “wearing
only short-sleeved shirts
and light cotton pants” while
prison staffers sported “multiple
layers and scarves around
their heads.”
Inmates also had no access
to medical care, clean clothing,
or hot food during the
week-long outage, according
to the suit and local pols who
visited the facility amid the
incident, including Councilman
Jumaane Williams (DFlatbush)
and Rep. Jerrold Nadler
(D–Red Hook).
The Federal Defenders
fi led its lawsuit in the wake of
several protests at the prison
after the New York Times fi rst
reported on the conditions inside
it on Feb. 1.
Protesters, who included
several local pols, communicated
with inmates via signs
and chants during the Feb.
2 and 3 rallies, and some attendees
tried to force their
way into the jail, only to be
fended off by corrections offi
cers shooting pepper spray,
the Times reported .
Prisons Bureau offi cials
are now investigating the
pepper-spray reports, according
to an agency rep, who confi
rmed power was restored
at the prison on Feb. 3, and
claimed its heat “was operational
despite the electrical
outage.”
But the rep did not respond
to repeated inquiries about the
bureau’s defi nition of “operational,”
only saying its leaders
are conducting a “complete
and thorough review of the
situation in coordination with
the Department of Justice.”
The Federal Defenders’s
suit against the Feds came on
the same day the Metropolitan
Detention Center received
a bomb threat from an unknown
source just before 10:30
am, the Prisons Bureau rep
confi rmed, suspending the facility’s
normal operations until
around 2 pm, with legal and
social visits to the prison resuming
INSIDE
Sweep spot
Take a curling class at Lakeside in Prospect Park
including how to “deliver the stone,” and
the strategy and technique behind sweeping
— using brooms to determine how far
the 42-pound chunk of granite will travel.
But the course is just the beginning, said
the instructor.
“You’ll try out all the basic moves and
understand the pacing and rhythm of a
game, however, this is one of those sports
where the better you get, the more there is
to learn,” he said.
First-timers just need to dress warmly
and wear rubber-soled shoes — the $65
fee provides all the equipment curlers will
need for a game, along with a free beer at
the end for those over 21, said Donefer.
Those who complete the class — or who
Let it slide: A curler practices delivering
the stone at the Lefrak Center in
Prospect Park, during a class hosted by
the Brooklyn Lakeside Curling Club.
Miska Draskoczy
already know how to curl — can register
for $25 pick-up games on Sundays and
Wednesdays at the club’s website. Would-be
curling kings must be at least 15 years old to
hop on the ice, but people of all skill levels
are welcome to join, said Donefer.
“We have a wide range of skill sets in our
league. We’re very welcoming to beginners,
and if you’re not of Olympic caliber you’ll fit
in just fine,” he said. “We have all ages, from
right out of college to over 70.”
Take a curling class at LeFrak Center
at Lakeside (171 E. Drive in Prospect Park,
enter on Ocean Avenue between Parkside
Avenue and Lincoln Road, www.brooklyncurling.
org). Sundays at 5:45 pm and 7:15
pm; Wednesdays at 8 pm. $65.
By Julianne Cuba This sport is pretty chill.
You can try your hand at the
popular Olympic sport known as
curling at the Lefrak Center in Prospect
Park this winter! Every four years, fans go
crazy over the calm yet compelling game
that sends heavy rocks hurling down the
ice like a chilly game of shuffleboard,
said the president of Brooklyn Lakeside
Curling Club, who leads weekly classes
during February and March.
“People are surprised at the popularity
of curling during the Olympics, and every
time people find themselves compulsively
watching Olympic curling on television,”
said Charles Donefer. “Something about
the way it’s televised that goes back and
forth between extreme excitement and
relaxation.”
The curling club has been around for
five years, and last year received a spike in
sign-ups after the United States men’s curling
team took home gold, said Donefer.
“Last year we received an awful lot of
interest, which continued into this year
perhaps because we had so many classes
sell out,” he said. “And it did not hurt that
the American team won gold for the first
time ever, they are minor celebrities at
this point.”
During his 90-minute introductory
classes, Donefer teaches students everything
they need to know to play the game,
Your entertainment
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about three hours after
that, the rep said.
A small group of protesters
continued their demonstrations
outside the prison after
it received the bomb threat,
banging on pots to convey
their support for inmates, and
hanging signs declaring “heat
now” and “MDC is criminal”
on a wall opposite the facility.
And the men inside the
prison communicated their
misery to the crowds outside
it all weekend long by banging
on their cell windows, and
responding to questions about
their conditions after activists
shouted them from bullhorns,
according to a protestor.
“They were saying that
it’s not safe in there, and that
it’s war inside,” said Thalyha
Gonzalez, who said her stepfather
is serving time in the
Another advocate outside
the prison on Feb.4 said no
person should be exposed to
the depraved conditions that
offi cials allegedly forced the
inmates to endure.
“Everybody looks at them
as at the bottom, but at the end
of the day, they’re human beings,”
said Jay Heemdowdy.
“Inhumane treatment should
not be a form of punishment
in America.”
Later that day, Sunset
Park’s congresswoman
blasted the incident as a violation
of the prisoners’ essential
rights on a conference
call organized by Councilman
Carlos Menchaca (D–Sunset
Park), vowing she and her colleagues
in Washington, DC,
will demand a federal investigation
into the incident.
“It’s a blatant disregard
for human rights,” said Rep.
Nydia Velazquez (D–Sunset
Park). “The broken criminal
justice system targets lowincome
people and people of
color for disproportionate
punishment and unfair treatment.”
prison.
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Inmate intervention
Feds sued for ‘inhumane’ conditions during power outage at S’Park prison
NO JUSTICE, NO HEAT: Protesters on Monday showed solidarity with
inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center, after its incarcerated men
allegedly spent the prior week without electricity and heat inside the
prison. Photo by Trey Pentecost
/www.brooklyn-curling.org
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