The New York prison in which Jeffrey Epstein, the entrepreneur accused of child trafficking, committed suicide in 2019 will be closed. This was announced by the United States Department of Justice explaining that the decision was taken to solve structural problems. The Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, located in southern Manhattan, will close “at least temporarily” probably next month, according to reports. New York Daily News.
“In an effort to address the problems at MCC NY as quickly and efficiently as possible, the Department has decided to close the MCC, at least temporarily, until those problems have been resolved,” the Justice Department said in a statement. . The text also indicates that the ‘decommissioning plans are ongoing’, and that more details will be provided on them as ‘the process continues’.
The prison currently houses 263 inmates, up from more than 700 in previous years, according to data from the Department of Prisons. A worker from the center, who wished to remain anonymous, told al Daily News that the complex “is falling apart.” “For years, there have been water leaks,” said the source, who said that one of the main reasons for making this decision is “the deterioration of infrastructure.”
He also pointed out that most of the inmates will go to the Brooklyn federal prison, the Sunset Park Metropolitan Detention Center, where more than 100 of them have been relocated in the past year. Some of the most prominent US inmates have been incarcerated in the MCC, including drug lord Joaqui’n “El Chapo” Guzma’n. After Epstein’s death, a number of faults were discovered including faulty security cameras located in front of his cell.