A power outage at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn is spurring fears of a riot — because inmates may not be able to watch the Super Bowl.
At least two-thirds of the 1,600 inmates in the prison’s three units have had little or no heat for the past week and been without access to computers, phones, visitors including lawyers — and TV. Now Correction officers fear inmates could riot if the TVs aren’t fixed by this weekend.
“We are afraid that Sunday, when the Super Bowl happens, is when things will probably get a little crazy — they have nothing right now to keep them occupied,’’ a jail source said.
The situation also is putting guards in potential danger, sources said.
The current conditions were caused when an electrical fire broke out Sunday, forcing the Sunset Park prison, which houses more than 1,600 inmates, to run on emergency power for some things, a source said.
“I’m concerned because if the power goes out while the inmates are out of their cells, everyone will be in complete darkness,” said the source.
The heat and power problems actually started Jan. 5, when the electrical panel first malfunctioned. Then Jan. 27, there was a fire in the same panel, sources said.
That has left at least two-thirds of the inmates housed across the prison’s three units with little or no heat despite the frigid temperatures, and some complained there was no hot water Tuesday and Wednesday, sources said.
The prisoners have also been without access to televisions, computers and telephones since Sunday.
They can’t even get visitors: Lawyers and relatives have been barred from the MDC since Sunday.
The lack of heat has taken a toll on inmates’ health, according to Benjamin Yaster, a lawyer for the Federal Defenders of New York.
His alleged drug-dealing client, Dino Sanchez, who has chronic asthma, suffered an attack Jan. 17 while being housed in solitary confinement in the Segregated Housing Unit.
Sanchez has since been moved to Unit 22 on the seventh floor of the MDC — also known as the “2 Unit” — which has been ice-cold all week, his lawyer said.
“Since January 27, 2019, Mr. Sanchez’s housing unit has been without heat, and has grown increasing [sic] cold, due to the sub-zero temperatures outside,” Yaster wrote in a sworn affidavit. “Mr. Sanchez has only been given the single, thin blanket he received upon intake. He has not been provided any additional blankets or clothing while the heat is out.
Further, hot water has been unavailable for long stretches of time.”
While in isolation for 23 hours a day, Yaster said, Sanchez was unable to purchase “thermal shirts or pants” or blankets from the commissary, the filing said. Sanchez is only dressed in a short-sleeved jumpsuit, T-shirt, underwear and socks that he was given when he detained following his Jan. 16 arrest, the lawyer said.
The lawyer requested an emergency bail application, warning that his client “is likely to have another episode — potentially at night, when his housing unit is dark and attending officers may be unable to see and respond to him.”
On Friday, a note posted on the front door of the MDC read, “ALL LEGAL & SOCIAL VISITATION ARE CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!”
Inmates, meanwhile, were heard from street level banging on the windows.
Virgen Suarez, 70, tried to visit her 48-year-old son but was turned away with no explanation.
“You go in, and they just kick you out,” she said. “He’s been isolated. I haven’t heard from him for about 10 days. I don’t know if he’s alive or not.”
The aftermath of the fire has also caused toxic air to permeate the prison, sources said. Corrections officers have been given face masks to wear, though inmates have not, according to sources.
Guards have also resorted to wearing winter hats, coats and gloves while on duty, a source said.
“It’s too much on us — we already work in a dangerous environment,” said June Bencebi, a case manager at MDC and treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2005. “For them to keep us in the dark about what’s going on and knowing that inmates are … sitting idle makes it even more dangerous for us.”
A rep for the MDC did not return a message.