NEW YORK — It’s probably the last place a mother would want to spend Mother’s Day with her children. But a family visiting space in New York’s notorious Rikers Island prison complex is a little more kid-friendly after a colorful makeover at the Manhattan Children’s Museum.
The prison opened the new preschool learning and recreation room for inmates’ children and grandchildren on Tuesday, a few days before the Sunday holiday.
“Mother’s Day means everything to me,” said Rikers inmate Nadine Leach, 43, as she watched her three-year-old granddaughter, Queen, excitedly explore the sound machines, coloring books and toys.
An interactive display on the wall shows a map of the city’s five districts. The buttons below trigger city sounds, like the noise of a subway.
Leach’s daughter, Lashawna Jones, 27, said the installation of the piece is beautiful compared to her last visit. Before, it was a practically empty room, with some books. Jones said the project focused her children’s attention on imaginative play instead of their grandmother being in prison and awaiting trial on felony drug trafficking charges.
“I’m sad she won’t be home with us on Mother’s Day. Because I feel a little sad coming here to visit her here because I’m used to having her physically at home with us. Like, right now, I’m being a big girl; I’m holding back my tears,” Jones said.
To reach the facility, families take a bus, undergo security and drug screenings and pass through walls with six layers of barbed wire. Outside the new recreation center, a sign on a blue concrete block reads: “Inmates may hold their children during visit.”
The visitor center was designed and installed by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and replicates exhibits from the museum’s Upper West Side home.
The exhibits teach preschool skills: communication, sharing, literacy and executive functions, said Leslie Bushara, director of programs at the museum.
Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections, cut a giant green ceremonial ribbon to open the room.
“We want mothers to interact with their children,” Maginley-Liddie said. “You know, being incarcerated can be very difficult. It can be difficult for children. It can be difficult for mothers. And it’s important that they have these connections even while they are in our care, so that when they are released, that bond is maintained throughout their incarceration.”
Rikers Island consists of mostly men’s prisons that house about 6,000 people. Exhibits for children will be added to these facilities next year, the museum said in a statement. Funding for the exhibits will also allow approved inmates to travel to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan twice a month.
People incarcerated at Rikers are accused of crimes that are being tested in court or are serving short sentences. City officials voted to close the entire complex in 2026 and replace it with smaller neighborhood facilities that would be easier for relatives to visit, but the deadline was pushed back. Poor conditions raised the prospect of a federal takeover.
The women’s prison, called the Rose M. Singer Center, currently houses about 370 people, according to the Department of Corrections. State officials transferred hundreds of women to state facilities in 2021 in an effort to improve safety.
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Associated Press writer Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report.
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