1,236 Comments for York Street Jail

The great angle of this shot reminds me of endless desolation.......the cells seem to go on forever....

I love your "plants frozen in ice" shots! Amazing photo!

Interesting color scheme.....

Not exactly a penthouse suite. Great shot!

I believe I left my appetite at the door....these are some great (although depressing) shots. Thanks!!

I agree with Lynne. Makes the institutional showers from a previous photo look homey and I might add, inviting......

Absolutely amazing shot. Made me feel like I was there. Kind of glad I'm not in this case!!

Not exactly a room with a view! Great shot....

What a perspective!

Can we lock Ruthie in it?
Alone, at night?
(Vincent Price laugh)

I remember driving by on Columbus
Avenue at night in the summer and honking the horn and hearing all the answering yells. I always wondered how you worked there for so long and still kept your sanity.

If you don't mind, whats the worst thing you've seen working in corrections?

Have you ever encountered an inmate that convinced you he truly was innocent of a bad crime for which they had been accused/incarcerated.

Was there ever a successful escape at York St Jail? How'd they do it? Did they stay free?

and finally, I have a small collection of jailhouse keys from SingSing and Greenhaven (as well as other places) from before the locking systems became automated. If I posted pictures of them in the main forum would you be able to identify whether they were keys for cells vs. keys for other purposes??

Come join the main forum!
www.opacity.us/forum

John

This building was originally the house the Sheriff and his family lived in once they were elected as Sheriff. Trustees from the Jail were allowed into the house daily to clean. Later Sheriff's lived off site and used this building for a Pre-Release Center then administrative offices. Mott's thank you so much for the pictures, cameras for the most part were never allowed into the institution so pictures are rare. It has been over 15 years since I have seen the inside and your pictures have jogged my memory of both good and bad times.

This picture is the Columbus Ave. side of the Main Block, the stair railing in the lower left was the stairs from six tier that led to the library. The screening on the two upper tiers was added in the early 80's after several close calls of both staff and inmates almost rolling off the tiers during disturbances.

Thank you for all the information you've given!