A Dank Decay: New Investigation Finds A Crumbling Facility at Manhattan Correctional Center

A new report finds the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan is crumbling.

The federal Bureau of Prisons facility was built in 1975. Last month the U.S. Justice Department ordered it to be closed down.

Associated Press reporter Michael Balsamo was recently granted access to the high-security jail. He says among other things, he saw concrete falling from the former kitchen, broken doors, and peeling paint. 

"The heating and air conditioning system there is so old that on one side of the building, it's just uncomfortably hot and on the other side of the building, it's so cold that inmates stuff their old coronavirus face masks into the vents to try to stop that airflow." he told WNYC.

Balsamo spoke with WNYC's Morning Edition host Michael Hill.