At least three people have COVID-19 at NYC’s lone private jail
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The Queens Detention Facility. Google Maps
By David Brand
Additional reporting by Emma Whitford
At least three staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at New York City’s lone private jail, a little known 222-bed facility called the Queens Detention Facility that is tucked among warehouses near JFK Airport.
So far, none of inmates at the Queens Detention Facility — including rapper Tekashi 69 —have tested positive for the illness, according to GEO Group, the massive private prison corporation that contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service to detain people at the jail before their sentencing in federal court. Some inmates, however, have been tested after experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, according to defense attorneys.
The three staff members are “at home on self-quarantine receiving available paid sick leave,” said a GEO Group spokesperson. “Currently, no U.S. Marshals Service inmates at the Facility have tested positive for the Coronavirus.”
At least three inmates at the Queens Detention Facility have so far been tested for COVID-19, said Deirdre von Dornum, the attorney-in-charge of the Federal Defenders for the Eastern District of New York. Von Dornum said she was not aware of the test results Tuesday. She said she also heard that kitchen staff members have been symptomatic.
The Queens Detention Facility is located within zip code 11413, where between 58 percent and 77 percent of people tested for COVID-19 have been confirmed positive, according to data published by the city Tuesday.
The illness has spread rapidly in the close confines of jails and prisons. At least 184 inmates and 169 staffmembers in New York City jails had tested positive for COVID-19 as of 8 a.m. April 1, according to the Department of Correction. The federal Bureau of Prisons announced Tuesday that all federal detainees would be locked in their cells for 14 days to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Private jail and prison contractors have been accused of operating substandard conditions in order to maximize profits. A 2016 memo from Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to the Bureau of Prisons said the private facilities “simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs or resources.”
GEO Group, the second-largest private jail contractor in the country, operates or manages 129 jails around the world, including 67 in the U.S., according to its website. The Florida-based corporation has been accused of forcing immigrant detainees to work without pay and it gave up its contract to run Mississippi prisons after a federal judge determined that the company had “allowed a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and conditions to germinate” at a juvenile jail plagued by violence.
In 2011, New York City’s then-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the corporation. “We only know one thing, that GEO Group has a horrible track record, ” de Blasio said at the time.
The warden at Queens Detention Facility, William Zerrilo, declined to discuss COVID-19 cases or efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus at the jail before he abruptly ended two phone calls Tuesday.
“It’s corporate policy for you to go through our corporate offices,” Zerillo said. “I’m not withholding information. I’m not authorized to do press releases.”
A lieutenant contacted Sunday also declined to comment. The person who answered the phone in the jail’s medical unit hung up after hearing a question about COVID-19 cases.
Though the corporation contracts with the U.S. government to detain defendants — many of whom are witnesses for the prosecution in federal cases, according to people familiar with the jail — three federal agencies said they were unable to share information about COVID-19 cases or the effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the private jail.
The federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Justice each directed questions to one of the other agencies or to GEO Group.
Councilmember Donovan Richards represents the district where the Queens Detention Facility is located. Photo by Jeff Reed/City Council
Councilmember Donovan Richards, who represents the industrial swath of Springfield Gardens where the jail is located, said the Queens Detention Facility has operated mostly under the radar since it opened in 1997.
“They largely operate out of sight out of mind,” Richards said. “It doesn’t even strike me as off that GEO is not transparent, because that’s the way they came in.”
The Queens Detention Facility originally held people arrested by Immigration and Naturalization Services, the precursor to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE used the jail from 2002 to 2005.
The jail complex has two floors with eight housing units — seven dormitory-style units and one restrictive housing unit — and a 24/7 triage clinic, according to a September 2018 federal Prison Rape Elimination Act audit. The auditor noted that 135 employees worked at the complex at the time of the audit, and found that the jail “meets standards” for certification under federal law. The 2018 audit is the most recent report for the Queens Detention Facility posted on the GEO Group’s website.
At least 13 plaintiffs have filed lawsuits against GEO Group in state Supreme Court since 2010, including three cases that remain active. One plaintiff alleges that he hurt himself after falling inside the jail because of “dangerous, defective, trap-like and unsafe conditions,” City Limits reported. Complaint information is not available through the state court website in the other two active cases.
Richards said he would send a letter to the federal government and to GEO Group requesting information on the number of people with COVID-19 at the Queens Detention Facility.
“Some of their workers live in our community,” Richards said. “If their workers are being impacted and coming back into the community, that equals more community spread.”
Prior reporting on the Queens Detention Facility inspired former state Assemblymember Ari Espinal to introduce the Private Prison Elimination Act, a 2018 bill to prohibit the state from leasing or granting state-owned property to be used for the operation of private correctional facilities.
The legislation would not have had an impact on the Queens Detention Facility because the facility is located on private property.
“It is unconscionable that here in Queens we have a for-profit prison like the Queens Detention Facility,” Espinal told the Eagle in August 2018. “We must take preventive measures in New York State to make sure that these greedy and opportunistic companies stay out of New York.”
