Covid at Rikers

10 Items | Curated by Rikers Public Memory Project Archive

When COVID-19 hit, RPMP partnered with Exodus Transitional to conduct 20 interviews of people released from Rikers during the pandemic. We were able to capture the experiences of people who survived the pandemic while inside Rikers. From the pandemic interviews, we created a series of podcast episodes that explored the experience of being incarcerated at Rikers during COVID.

Dwayne Gardner was incarcerated at Rikers Island when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured his story as part of our oral history program. He describes how the jail was woefully unprepared to deal with the virus, causing widespread chaos and misinformation. (video made with…
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Orlando Irizarry was incarcerated at Rikers Island when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured his story as part of our oral history program. He describes how his severe anxiety about surviving the virus and surviving Rikers made him wonder if he would make it out alive. (video made…
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Sergio Parilla was incarcerated at Rikers Island when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured his story as part of our oral history program. He describes losing close friends to the virus and the emotional toll that took on him. (Content warning: discussion of suicide.) (video made…
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Lorenzo McLucas was incarcerated at Rikers Island, on the jail barge nicknamed "The Boat," when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured his story as part of our oral history program. He describes his anxieties about officers bringing Covid into the jail and moving between Rikers and…
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Gianina Cruz was incarcerated at Rikers Island when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured her story as part of our oral history program. All 36 women in her dorm, including her, contracted the virus. She and 28 others were hospitalized, leaving seven women behind to cope and recover…
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Brandon Rodriguez was incarcerated at Rikers as COVID-19 swept through the facility last year. We captured his story as part of our oral history program. His account is harrowing--and a good reminder that the virus continues to disproportionately affect incarcerated people.
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Omar Alexander was incarcerated at Rikers Island when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured his story as part of our oral history program. He describes how he and others had a stand-off with guards, refusing to leave their dorm until they got face masks. (video made with…
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Lauren Valente was incarcerated at Rikers Island when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured her story as part of our oral history program. She describes being locked down for months as 38 out of the 50 women in her dorm developed coronavirus symptoms. (video made with…
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Stanley Morris was incarcerated at Rikers Island when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured his story as part of our oral history program. In this clip, he describes the jail's unsanitary conditions and having to make homemade masks from bed sheets. In his 20 years of going back and…
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Stanley Morris was incarcerated at Rikers Island when COVID-19 first hit the facility in 2020. We captured his story as part of our oral history program. He describes the inadequate medical care he received at the jail, where he waited more than three weeks to see a doctor, who dismissed him…
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