Detainees at the Rikers Island jails have not had regular laundry service for at least a year, leaving them to wash their clothes in toilet bowls and on their bodies in the shower and to dry wet sheets on beds and in cells, according to three attorneys who represent detainees.
The new city jails boss is set to go in front of the city jails oversight agency Wednesday to address complaints about a lack of laundry services and propose a plan to fix the issue.
Department spokesperson Annais Morales said last month the New York City Department of Correction received 27 complaints about laundry issues, noting the complainants “represented fewer than half of one percent of the entire population.”
She said linen and uniform exchange occurs on a regular basis and detainees have two opportunities per week to exchange linen and clothing for a new set or use a “DIY” in-house laundry service.
“The department takes every complaint seriously, ensures they are thoroughly investigated, and works to effectively resolve substantiated complaints,” Morales said.
Under the city Board of Correction’s minimum standards, the DOC must give detainees one shirt, one pair of pants, two pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks, a pair of shoes and a sweater. The standards require the clothes to be laundered or exchanged at the department’s expense twice per week. Detainees also receive two sheets, which are supposed to be laundered weekly by the department.
But advocates for detainees say laundry service is inconsistent at Rikers, if it’s provided at all. They say this has led to detainees finding ways to wash their own clothes and bedding, or simply living in filthy items — whether or not those incarcerated actively complain about it.
Last week, Michael Klinger, a jail services attorney with the nonprofit Brooklyn Defender Services, filed a new complaint with the board and DOC on behalf of a man who says he and others detained in the Otis Bantum Correctional Center have not had access…
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