12th inmate dies as New York City’s jail crisis intensifies

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and MICHELLE L. PRICE
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City inmate who died of a medical emergency in a floating jail has become at least the 12th death of a city inmate this year and the second this week. The city’s Department of Correction said in a statement Wednesday that the inmate on a jail barge across the East River from the Rikers Island jail complex had appeared to be in medical distress. Also, the city withdrew a lawsuit it had filed Monday that accused the jail guards union of condoning or encouraging employee absences in what the city said was an illegal strike.