16 died in NYC jails last year: NYT

NEW YORK: JAN. 30 – At least 16 people died in New York’s troubled jails in 2021, and most were awaiting trial and died on Rikers Island, the notorious 90-year-old warren of cellblocks separated from the city’s mainland by the East River, reported The New York Times on Friday.

“The deaths have received outsize scrutiny compared with years past, with many seemingly preventable, especially after recent reforms put in place at the jails and the emptying of thousands of inmates during the pandemic,” said the report.