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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City
The Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York (MCC New York) is a temporarily closed United States federal administrative detention facility in the Civic Center of Lower Manhattan, New York City, located on Park Row behind the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse at Foley Square. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

MCC New York holds male and female prisoners of all security levels. Most prisoners held at MCC New York have pending cases in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. MCC New York also holds prisoners serving brief sentences.

The Los Angeles Times stated that the prison is often referred to as the "Guantanamo of New York", and The New York Times stated that its administrative segregation units had severe security measures.

History

Opened in 1975 in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, MCC New York was the first high-rise facility to be used by the Bureau of Prisons. The jail was technically an extension of the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, to which it was connected via a footbridge. Prisoners were assigned to one of 10 separate, self-contained housing units, resulting in little movement within the facility. In 2002, it was widely reported that MCC New York was severely overcrowded.

Numerous high-profile individuals have been held at MCC New York during court proceedings, including Gambino crime family bosses John Gotti and Jackie D'Amico, drug dealer Frank Lucas, Ponzi scheme fraudster Bernie Madoff, terrorists Omar Abdel Rahman and Ramzi Yousef, financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and weapons trafficker Viktor Bout. After being extradited to the United States, Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was housed in the facility.

On August 26, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that the prison would be temporarily closed because of its deteriorating condition. At the time of the announcement, 233 prisoners were held there. They were moved to other prisons while the department dealt with the problems.

Facility

The correctional center is housed in a 12-story high-rise building located at 150 Park Row in the Civic Center neighborhood. In 2017, it had 796 inmates, both male and female, which is far more than its design capacity of 449. The facility has one female wing; seven General Population male wings, six of which feature cells and one is a dorm; one Special Housing Unit (SHU); and one maximum security unit. Each unit takes up two stories. All General Population units feature a gym (no weights), a kitchen (microwaves, hot water, ice), and five TV sets (one in the gym and four in the common area). Offices, classes, and computers are located on the unit's second floor. The jail is chronically understaffed.

Inmates in the 10-South wing are locked inside single-man cells 23 hours a day that are continuously monitored by CCTV cameras and have lights on at all times. Prisoners are kept isolated: their cells are equipped with showers, and the only time they're taken outside their cells is for exercise in an indoor cage. No outdoor recreation is permitted. Most 10-South prisoners are subject to special administrative measures, which severely restrict their communication with other prisoners and with the outside world.

The 9-South wing is a designated SHU. It houses inmates that violated prison rules; new arrivals that have not been medically cleared for General Population yet; and inmates in Protective Custody (PC). Both inmates in a cell are cuffed at the back through a food slot every time the cell door is to be opened. Inmates are escorted to the shower three times a week, always cuffed. The wing has leaky plumbing that results in prisoners encountering pools of standing water and sewage, and it also has rodent and cockroach infestations.

Notable inmates (former)

Inmate Name Register Number Photo Status Details
Omar Abdel-Rahman 34892-054 Deceased. Died of natural causes on February 18, 2017, after transfer to a medical unit at the Federal Correctional Complex, Butner, in North Carolina, while serving a life sentence plus 15 years under the name Omar Ahmad Rahman. Leader of the terrorist organization al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya; convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy for masterminding a foiled plot to bomb high-profile targets in New York City, including the United Nations, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Holland Tunnel, and the George Washington Bridge in what is known as the New York City landmark bomb plot, as well as conspiring to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Nine followers are serving sentences at ADX and other federal facilities.
Abu Hamza al-Masri 67495-054 Transferred to ADX Florence.

Serving a life sentence under the name Mostafa Kamel Mostafa.

Egyptian cleric and former associate of deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden; extradited from the UK in 2012; convicted in 2014 of masterminding the 1998 kidnapping of Westerners in Yemen and conspiring to establish a terrorist training camp in Oregon in 1999.
Abu Anas al-Libi Unknown Al-Libi died on January 2, 2015, while awaiting trial. High-ranking Al-Qaeda operatives; indicted in 2000 on conspiracy charges stemming from Al Qaeda's 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa, which killed 224 people.
Khalid al-Fawwaz 67497-054 Al-Fawwaz is serving a life sentence at USP Victorville.
Michael Avenatti 86743-054 Transferred to FCI Terminal Island.

Serving a 19-year sentence; scheduled for release on January 17, 2036.

Convicted in New York of attempting to extort Nike and honest services fraud related to his client; also facing two other pending trials relating to tax evasion, filing false tax returns and allegations of defrauding clients including Stormy Daniels.
Viktor Bout 91641-054 Transferred to USP Marion. Served a 25-year sentence; released on December 12, 2022 in a prisoner exchange with Russia for Brittney Griner. Russian arms dealer; convicted in 2011 of conspiring to kill Americans and supplying anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons to FARC, a Marxist group on the U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Daryl Campbell 75951-054 Transferred to Brooklyn MDC. Serving a 35-year sentence. Plead guilty to federal gun charges
Jeffrey Epstein 76318-054 Committed suicide by hanging in his cell on August 10, 2019; after being removed from a suicide watch. Sex trafficking charges. It was the first recorded suicide at MCC in 21 years.
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani 02476-748 Transferred to ADX Florence, and then to USP McCreary. Serving a life sentence. Al-Qaeda terrorist convicted for his role in the bombing of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He was on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list from its inception in October 2001. In 2004, he was captured and detained by Pakistani forces in a joint operation with the United States, and was held until June 9, 2009, at Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was then sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States and sent to ADX Florence, but then later transferred to USP McCreary.
John Gotti 18261-053 Deceased. Died in 2002 at MCFP Springfield while serving a life sentence. Boss of the Gambino Crime Family in New York City from 1985 to 1992; convicted of murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery, and tax evasion in 1992.
Salvatore Gravano Unlisted Placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program in return for turning government witness in 1991; served a 19-year sentence in an Arizona prison after being convicted on state narcotics charges. Released early in September 2017; was scheduled for release in March 2019. Former underboss of the Gambino Crime Family; turned government witness and testified against boss John Gotti.
Joaquín Guzmán 89914-053 Transferred to ADX Florence. Serving a life sentence plus 30 years. Known as "El Chapo" Guzmán, who on two prior occasions was able to escape High Security Facilities in Mexico, was extradited to the United States in 2017. He was accused of being the leader of a drug cartel with thousands of members, whose earnings are estimated to be in the billions. The charge coming out of the United States Court, Eastern District of New York, asserts that he and other members of the Sinaloa Cartel have used hired assassins to carry out murders, kidnappings, and torture. Time Out New York reported in August 2018 that the Brooklyn Bridge could be closed to traffic twice a day when Guzmán is transported across the river to face trial at the Federal District Court in Brooklyn.
Patrick Ho 76101-054 Convicted, served a three-year sentence. Released on June 8, 2020. Charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering. Three years' imprisonment and fined $400,000 in March 2019.
Bernie Madoff 61727-054 Deceased. Served 11 years of a 150-year sentence at FCI Butner and then FMC Butner until his death on April 14, 2021. Former financier; pleaded guilty in 2009 to fraud, money laundering, perjury and theft for perpetrating the largest Ponzi scheme in US history, robbing thousands of investors of over $65 billion over 20 years; the story was featured on the CNBC television program American Greed. Died in 2021.
Paul Manafort 35207-016 Pardoned by President Donald Trump and released from federal custody on December 23, 2020. Former Trump campaign manager, lobbyist, political consultant, and lawyer. Sentenced to 47 months in prison for lobbying violations and bank and tax fraud. Moved from FCI Loretto in June 2019. Expected to be released December 24, 2024, moved back to Loretto in August 2019. Pardoned by Trump on December 23, 2020.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi 78312-054 Transferred to ADX Florence. Serving two consecutive life sentences. American-Afghan man from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was convicted in U.S. District Court and New Jersey state court for use of weapons of mass destruction, bombing a place of public use, attempted murder of law enforcement officers and various other charges.
Sayfullo Habibullaevich Saipov 79715-054 Transferred to ADX Florence. Serving ten concurrent life sentences plus 260 years. Sayfullo is being held in MCC, New York on a conviction of perpetrating a terrorist attack in New York City. He was charged with Providing material support for a terrorist organization and Destruction of a motor vehicle.
Ross Ulbricht 18870-111 Transferred to USP Florence High, and finally transferred to USP Tucson.

Serving two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years.

Creator and operator of the darknet market website the Silk Road.
Akayed Ullah 79827-054 Transferred to ADX Florence.

Serving a life sentence plus 30 years.

Convicted in 2018 for terrorism in a plot to bomb the New York City Subway with explosives.
Ramzi Yousef 03911-000 Transferred to ADX Florence. Serving a life sentence plus 240 years. Convicted in 1994 of terrorism conspiracy and other charges in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six people and injured more than 1,000. Yousef was also convicted in 1996 of planning Project Bojinka, a foiled plot conceived by senior Al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to bomb twelve planes in a 48-hour period.
John Zancocchio 48744-080 Released from federal custody on July 31, 2018. Racketeering charges
Chuck Zito 12032-054 Transferred to FCI Lewisburg
Released from federal custody on April 13, 1990. 		President of the New York Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels; pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in 1986

See also

References

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  2. ^ "New York warden reassigned after Jeffrey Epstein's death; two staffers placed on leave". USA Today.
  3. ^ Demick, Barbara; Patrick J. McDonnell (January 20, 2017). "Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman has a new home: The Guantanamo of New York". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  4. ^ Goldstein, Joseph (January 23, 2017). "Manhattan Jail That Holds El Chapo Is Called Tougher Than Guantánamo Bay". The New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  5. ^ Dugan, George (August 3, 1975). "400 Prisoners Are Transferred To New U.S. Jail on Foley Sq". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  6. ^ Bosworth, Mary (2002). The US Federal Prison System. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. p. 272. ISBN 9780761923046.
  7. ^ Goldberger, Paul (July 26, 1975). "New Detention Center at Foley Sq. Is Hailed as Advance in Jail Design". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  8. ^ McShane, Larry (March 13, 2009). "Inside Bernard Madoff's new home: the Metropolitan Correctional Center prison in Manhattan". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
  9. ^ Weiser, Benjamin (August 26, 2021). "Justice Dept. to Close Troubled Jail Where Jeffrey Epstein Died". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  10. ^ "Metropolitan Correctional Center New York". Zoukis Prisoner Resources. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  11. ^ Neumeister, Larry; Mustian, Jim; Sisak, Michael R. (August 12, 2019). "Federal New York lockup draws new scrutiny in Epstein death". Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  12. ^ Theoharis, Jeanne (August 16, 2019). "The Real Scandal of the MCC". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  13. ^ Watkins, Ali; Ivory, Danielle; Goldbaum, Christina (August 17, 2019). "Inmate 76318-054: The Last Days of Jeffrey Epstein". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2019. Beyond its isolation, the wing is infested with rodents and cockroaches, and inmates often have to navigate standing water — as well as urine and fecal matter — that spills from faulty plumbing, accounts from former inmates and lawyers said. One lawyer said mice often eat his clients' papers.
  14. ^ Stahl, Aviva (June 19, 2018). "Prisoners Endure A Nightmare 'Gulag' In Lower Manhattan, Hidden In Plain Sight". Gothamist. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  15. ^ Fried, Joseph P. (October 2, 1995). "THE TERROR CONSPIRACY: THE OVERVIEW;SHEIK AND 9 FOLLOWERS GUILTY OF A CONSPIRACY OF TERRORISM". The New York Times.
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  20. ^ Flood, Brian (February 14, 2020). "Ex-CNN darling Michael Avenatti convicted of trying to extort Nike". Fox News.
  21. ^ "Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout handed 25-year federal sentence". CNN. April 6, 2012.
  22. ^ "Jeffrey Epstein dies by suicide in Manhattan jail; Death raises 'serious questions,' AG Barr says". ABC7 New York. August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  23. ^ "Guards 'severely overworked' at time of Epstein's death". BBC News. August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  24. ^ Leonnig, Carol D.; Davis, Aaron C. (August 15, 2019). "Autopsy finds broken bones in Jeffrey Epstein's neck, deepening questions around his death". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  25. ^ Gearty, Robert (August 12, 2019). "Epstein's New York lockup rare place for inmate suicides, suicide attempts". Fox News.
  26. ^ "Arizona Department of Corrections". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
  27. ^ Klaus von Lampe. "Salvatore Sammy The Bull Gravano". Organized-crime.de.
  28. ^ "El Chapo trial: Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán found guilty". BBC. February 12, 2019. Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has been found guilty on all 10 counts at his drug trafficking trial at a federal court in New York.
  29. ^ Lum, Alvin; Emma Kazryan (December 6, 2018). "Former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping convicted in US court on 7 of 8 counts in bribery and money-laundering case". South China Morning Post. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  30. ^ Cheng, Kris (November 23, 2017). "All parties deny involvement after US arrests ex-Hong Kong top official Patrick Ho on multi-million dollar bribery charges". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
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  33. ^ Kouwe, Zachery (July 14, 2009). "Madoff Arrives at Federal Prison in North Carolina". The New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  34. ^ Bernstein, Richard (March 5, 1994). "EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS; 4 ARE CONVICTED IN BOMBING AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER THAT KILLED 6, STUNNED U.S." The New York Times.
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  36. ^ Zito, Chuck; Layden, Joe (December 17, 2003). Street Justice – Google Books. Macmillan. pp. 217–223. ISBN 9780312320218. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
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