{"id":290551,"date":"2021-07-04T03:24:14","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T00:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/rikers-honchos-get-lavish-parties-while-guards-work-24-hour-shifts\/"},"modified":"2021-07-04T03:24:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T00:24:14","slug":"rikers-honchos-get-lavish-parties-while-guards-work-24-hour-shifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/rikers-honchos-get-lavish-parties-while-guards-work-24-hour-shifts\/","title":{"rendered":"#Rikers honchos get lavish parties \u2014 while guards work 24-hour shifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Rikers honchos get lavish parties \u2014 while guards work 24-hour shifts<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Two New York City corrections officials were lavished with retirement parties on Rikers Island this week, with hundreds of employees enjoying extravagant onsite celebrations \u2014 complete with a water-cannon salute and a marching band \u2014 even amid a staffing crisis and surge in inmate violence inside the troubled jail.<\/p>\n

The pair of over-the-top, on-the-clock, booze-filled revels were thrown for Chief of Department Hazel Jennings and Bureau Chief Becky Scott, stunned insiders told The Post.<\/p>\n

More than 200 people feted Jennings Friday during a catered outdoor affair that featured lobster, Italian dishes and rum punch, sources told The Post. <\/p>\n

Attendees brought plenty of booze, too \u2014 scotch, bourbon and wine flowed freely during the bash, the sources noted. An FDNY boat even gave a water cannon salute to the guest of honor. <\/p>\n

\"A
A pair of large retirement parties on Rikers Island have left some in the Department of Corrections outraged.<\/figcaption>
Matthew McDermott<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The party for Scott, held Thursday, sent her into retirement with a marching band, and deejays entertained at both affairs \u2014 galling witnesses and sources.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficers are working their asses off in jail, and to throw a party with this much extravagance is like a slap in every officer\u2019s face,\u201d one corrections source fumed, saying guards have been forced to work double and trip<\/a>le shifts for months. \u201cIt goes to show how out of touch these people running the Corrections Department are. They can\u2019t run a friggin\u2019 jail, but they can throw a helluva party.\u201d<\/p>\n

A federal monitor in May said \u201csystemic and deep-seated\u201d issues at the city\u2019s jails have created a \u201cpervasive level of disorder and chaos.\u201d The monitor\u2019s report was released just hours after Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann announced she would be leaving at the end of May.<\/p>\n

\"An
An extravagant retirement party was thrown on Rikers Island for Chief of Department Hazel Jennings.<\/figcaption>
Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jennings, 55, the department\u2019s highest ranking officer, retired Friday after 32 years.<\/p>\n

She was ferried to her five-hour affair on the Rikers complex in an SUV with lights and sirens blazing, video obtained by The Post shows.<\/p>\n

Jennings emerged to a cheering crowd as someone held an umbrella over her head to fend off the rain, as a singer soulfully crooned during her arrival. <\/p>\n

Blowing kisses to the waiting guests, she was escorted by the incoming Acting Chief of Department Kenneth Stukes, who was in a dress uniform.<\/p>\n

Wearing a low-cut white blouse and pantsuit with green heels, a long chain of pearls and a yellow rose corsage, Jennings walked into the party along a white carpet leading into a large rented tent packed with at least 100 on-duty personnel, plus retirees, friends and family members. At one point, admirers tossed rose petals at her. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been at weddings with less pomp than this,\u201d one witness quipped.<\/p>\n

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\"Hazel
Hazel Jennings (in white) poses for photos at her retirement party on Rikers Island.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"The
The crowd of people at Hazel Jennings\u2019 retirement party.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The party, decorated with large banners bearing Jennings\u2019 face and towering floral centerpieces, featured a buffet and two cakes.<\/p>\n

The event reportedly cost at least $15,000, sources claimed, although it was not clear who foot the bill. In addition, they said, about a dozen corrections officers served the food. The party, featuring fare such as chicken parmigiana, pasta, eggplant, sausage and salads, kicked-off at noon and lasted until about 5:30 p.m., witnesses said.<\/p>\n

The Rikers Island bridge was shut down so Jennings could pose for pictures, a witness said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when an FDNY boat sailed up, shooting off its water cannons to salute her, video posted to Facebook<\/a> by one attendee shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s having a parade,\u201d one witness said.<\/p>\n

The afternoon affair was videotaped, and multiple corrections employees served as photographers, witnesses said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere were tons of people videoing and taking photos. The ceremonial unit, and the Emerald Society pipes and drums unit performed. There was over 100 uniformed staff, plus retirees. Amazing that there is a staff shortage in the jails that they found close to 100 on-duty personnel to attend,\u201d griped another insider.<\/p>\n

The who\u2019s-who of on-duty DOC people included \u201call ranks, from the bottom to the top: officers, captains, deputy wardens, chiefs,\u201d the witness said, noting that Vincent Schiraldi, the newly app<\/a>ointed Corrections commissioner, was also present. <\/p>\n

\"A
A mural of Hazel Jennings at her retirement party.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A FDNY boat gives Jennings a water salute.<\/figcaption>
Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe seemed taken aback by it. You saw it in his facial expressions \u2014 he wasn\u2019t comfortable being there. I think he expected a sendoff, but not something short of a wedding reception,\u201d the witness said. Schiraldi could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

Despite a prohibition of booze in the jails, \u201cthere were people bringing liquor to the party: Scotch, bourbon, wine. Somebody brought a case of wine,\u201d the witness said.<\/p>\n

Commanding Officer William Ryba, of the Ceremonial unit, arranged for the FDNY water cannon salute, said an insider. A video posted on his Facebook page captured the grandeur of the FDNY water canon display.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs always making the impossible POSSIBLE. Your (sic) the man Billy,\u201d gushed one Ryba fan in approval.<\/p>\n

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\"Bureau
Bureau Chief Becky Scott also had a retirement party on Rikers Island this week.<\/figcaption>
Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The other party, held Thursday for Scott, was smaller but equally lavish, sources said. A spirited marching band played during Scott\u2019s affair, which featured a deejay, and Scott, in a form-fitting white dress, thanked her guests during a lengthy speech from a microphone.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo each person here, I just want to say to everyone: thank you, thank you for coming out, I love you,\u201d said Scott, 53, who joined the department in 1991 as a Rikers warden.<\/p>\n

The back-to-back fetes came on the heels of an apparent tragedy: an inmate who was found unresponsive and died hours later, records show.<\/p>\n

The inmate, Robert Jackson, was being held on burglary charges and was discovered unresponsive in his cell late Wednesday night after a guard had walked off duty, a source said.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the union, the Corrections Officer Benevolent Association, said the guard had been working 20 straight hours with no meals or rest and had logged his repeated requests to get relief with no success. He said the inmate died 12 hours after he left.<\/p>\n

Benny Boscio Jr., the COBA president, said the \u201cgrossly mismanaged jails are a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd nothing illustrates that better than the events that occurred over this past week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

An insider said DOC staffers \u201cshook down\u201d fraternal groups and unions for donations to help defray the cost, but it\u2019s unclear how much they raised.<\/p>\n

\"A
A marching band at Becky Scott\u2019s retirement party.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Party
Party favors at Scott\u2019s retirement party on Rikers Island.<\/figcaption>
Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boscio did not attend the parties and the union did not fund them or encourage members to go, the spokesman said.<\/p>\n

The Department of Correction said it provided the tent, tables and chairs for the parties \u2014 which it referred to as ceremonial events \u2014 but not the food. It said staffers chipped in for the buffets and if there was any booze, if it was unsanctioned. Attendance by colleagues at a retirement party during working hours was not uncommon, according to the department.<\/p>\n

As for the inmate\u2019s death, a probe was underway.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur deepest sympathies\u00a0go out to Mr. Jackson\u2019s family and loved ones during this\u00a0difficult\u00a0time. We are looking into the tragic circumstances and a full investigation is ongoing,\u201d Schiraldi said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The parties irked those who noted the daily struggle of rank and file workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn two of the jails, people on OT [are] doing triple and quadruple shifts\u201d of 24 hours, sometimes 32 hours, the disgusted witness said. \u201cThe whole department is falling apart, but we\u2019re throwing a big party.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Rikers honchos get lavish parties \u2014 while guards work 24-hour shifts” Two New York City corrections officials were lavished with retirement parties on Rikers Island this week, with hundreds of employees enjoying extravagant onsite celebrations \u2014 complete with a water-cannon salute and a marching band \u2014 even amid a staffing crisis and surge in inmate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":290552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/07\/rikers-island-party.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[111060,71049,70946,71050,75706],"class_list":["post-290551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-7-3-21","tag-corrections-officers","tag-department-of-corrections","tag-jail","tag-rikers-island"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}