A federal jail in Brooklyn, New York, remained with limited power and heat on Saturday, a week after it first started experiencing a partial power outage and as an arctic blast left the area in single-digit temperatures.
Inmates and workers at the Metropolitan Detention Center have been largely in the dark with limited heat or hot water, according to the local NBC affiliate and other reports.
WNBC reported that limited heat became available during the afternoon of Friday but only after workers, who had been wearing hats and scarves inside, started complaining, citing an employee identified as Rhonda Barnwell.
Late Friday night, beams of small lights being waved through darkened windows were visible from the outside.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said via an email statement that cells had heat and hot water and that there was still lighting in common areas, the WNBC reported on Saturday, citing earlier reporting by the New York Times.
The facility houses some 1 600 inmates which includes high-profile drug and terrorism cases as well as prisoners in low-profile criminal cases awaiting trial, the Times reported.
