Next Hearing On 'Third World' Sunset Park Prison Is Feb. 10

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — On Friday, a federal judge will once again consider the conditions inside Sunset Park's MDC Brooklyn, a facility she previously likened to "a prison in Turkey or a Third World Country."

Last October, Judge Cheryl L. Pollak refused to send inmate Ana Espinal to MDC, a federal prison located at 80 29th St., as reported by the New York Daily News. Espinal had violated her parole after pleading guilty to cocaine trafficking in 2011, according to court documents, leading to the October hearing. But Pollak cited a report from June 2016 written by four members of the National Association of Women Judges describing the conditions for female inmates inside the facility as "unconscionable." According to the judges, 161 women were held there in two large rooms, without access to sunlight, outside exercise or proper medical care, among other problems.

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Espinal was subsequently sent to MDC after another parole violation, according to her attorney, Steve Zissou. However, she was released on bail in December, court documents show.

Zissou said at the time that he would monitor conditions inside MDC, and would challenge them again at Espinal's Feb. 10 hearing if improvements hadn't been made. The attorney said a number of female inmates had recently been transferred to a Danbury, Connecticut facility. That improved the situation inside the prison, he said, though he added that female inmates still had "nothing to do" and barely had access to sunlight.

A spokeswoman for MDC did not immediately respond to questions about the facility on Thursday.

Last October, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, who represents Sunset Park, sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the facility's manager, asking about conditions inside MDC. On Thursday, a spokesman for Velázquez said, "We do not have a response, but the Congresswoman continues following the issue closely.”

Pictured at top: MDC Brooklyn. Image via Google Maps.