Lockdown at E. River jail barge
CORREX SYSTEM IN CRISIS
appearance.
“I believe I told the truth, yes,” said Ponte, whose city salary is $214,413.
De Blasio has staunchly defended his appointee, and insisted Monday that nothing was intentionally done in violation of city rules.
“I don’t think anyone attempted to cheat here, and they will pay back anything, and again, if there’s further penalties or actions, those will be taken,” de Blasio said.
Using a city car on anything but official business is barred under city rules. Other top correction officials were found to have violated the same standard, and could wind up on the hook for payback to the city.
Ponte’s chief of staff, Jeff Thamkittikasem, drove a Correction Department car to a friend’s house in Virginia for a birthday party last year. The $197,995-a-year employee also drove his parents to the airport in the city vehicle.
The Correction Department’s general counsel is doing the math to determine who might owe what over the automotive abuses.
Ponte declined to blame anyone for misleading him about the use of a city car for noncity work.
“I’m not going to get into who said what to who,” he explained. “When I arrived here, in the City of New York, I had no idea (of the rules).”
But he told the Council during his Monday appearance that he thought the car was available for his use 24/7 because he had access to a round-the-clock staff and vehicle.
Other city workers received less gentle treatment for misusing their city-owned vehicles.
The city Conflicts of Interest Board banged a New York City Housing Administration worker with a 10-day suspension — a penalty of $2,222.
The man drove his mother in a city car to a Pier 1 Imports store in Freeport, L.I., where she bought a chair. The employee then drove his mom and her new furniture home.
Two Sanitation Department employees lost $2,970 and $2,079 in pay for parking their truck in a vacant lot alongside one of their homes to take a 34-minute break while on duty.
One of the two men was there to meet with contractors making a delivery, while the other went along for the ride, officials said.
Several Council members tore into Ponte after the Monday hearing where the commissioner pleaded ignorance to questions about the car, a correction official eavesdropping on city investigators and a key report on closing Rikers Island.
“I have not” read the blueprint to shut down the notorious city jail, he repeated again Tuesday.
City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (D-Queens) appeared astounded by the last admission.
“How can we as the Council and this city have confidence in your ability to run our jails if you haven’t read the document?” she asked. “How can you implement this process if you haven’t read the report?
“All this, and Rikers is still in chaos.” OFFICIALS ordered a lockdown of the city’s jail barge moored in the East River after four attacks on officers Tuesday, including one who was stabbed inside the facility’s barbershop, records show.
The violence started when inmate Kevin Dubuisson, 20, allegedly spat at an officer twice and began to fill up a milk carton with toilet water inside his cell at the Vernon C. Bain Center (photo) off Hunts Point in the Bronx at 7:46 a.m., internal Correction Department records show. The inmate was subdued with pepper spray and taken down by a jail captain.
Dubuisson is in jail facing felony charges for stealing money and attacking his mother May 1. While in custody, he allegedly punched a police officer in the face at Long Island Jewish Medical Center during a medical evaluation last Saturday.
On the barge, the second incident occurred a little less than two hours later when a group of inmates set upon a rival detainee inside the facility’s barbershop, records show.
A city jail officer trying to break up the fight was stabbed in the arm during the melee, sources said.
About an hour later, inmate Jonathan Perez refused to go into his housing pen and “lunged toward staff,” records show. A correction officer then hit Perez with a shot of pepper spray. Perez is in jail facing charges of burglary and attempted robbery.
About 15 minutes later, Dubuisson acted out again, and allegedly tried to attack another officer inside the medical clinic, records show.
“Safety is Commissioner Joseph Ponte’s top priority, and we will continue to take every step in order to ensure the safety and security of our staff and inmates,” said department spokesman Peter Thorne, adding that the incidents were under investigation.