Rikers guard charged with rape while off duty has a string of accusations from detainees

Plus: Who's funding the NY Democrats' big push? [View this email in a browser.]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( [Rikers guard charged with rape while off duty has a string of accusations from detainees]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☔ Rainy, highs in the lower 70s. In 2021, Karina Collado was awaiting trial at Rikers Island on the drug and assault charges that would eventually land her a 14-month prison stay. While at Rikers, she said, a male guard cornered her inside a storage closet and forced his fingers into her vagina. One year later, Collado recounted the alleged attack to a female guard at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility who helped her file a report. In neat handwriting, Collado described her alleged attack and the name of the correction officer she said did it: “CO Martin Jr.” As required by state policy and federal standards, the report was sent to Rikers officials within days. Collado should have been interviewed within 72 hours, according to the federal regulations. Identifying the officer Collado said assaulted her should have been relatively simple because only one guard with that surname worked at Rikers Island when she was held there: Correction Officer Anthony Martin Jr. Yet no probe was ever launched. A new Gothamist investigation has found that the failure to follow up on Collado’s claims may have indeed enabled her attacker to assault other women. In April of this year – three years after Collado reported the attack — Martin Jr. was arrested on charges he raped a woman while off duty in Queens. Martin Jr. has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. He said the allegations against him from former detainees “sound like a bunch of BS.” [Read the story here](. Here's what else is happening: - Who's funding New York Democrats' [big push to flip congressional seats]( this fall? Developers who want casino licenses in New York City. - New research from NYU found that toxic subway air disproportionately harms low-income commuters, especially Black and Hispanic riders, [due to longer commutes and more station transfers](. - Planned Parenthood said it will temporarily stop deep sedation services, including [abortions after 20 weeks]( at the organization's Manhattan clinic. - The talking drones New York City deployed this week to [warn residents of severe flooding]( couldn't speak Spanish like they were supposed to. - A judge has ordered the affluent town of Millburn, New Jersey, to pay more than $100,000 to cover the legal fees of a developer and housing nonprofit who've been [fighting to build an affordable housing complex there](. - A [pier on the Lower East Side]( has been selected as the site for what could one day be the floating plus-shaped pool that's been in the works for over a decade. - Dozens of people who were kicked out of the Randall's Island migrant shelter after exceeding their 30-day limit [are now living in tents]( on the banks of the island. - Magician David Copperfield is being sued by the condo board at his Midtown luxury building for [letting his abandoned $7 million penthouse fall into disrepair](. - Since breaking up with Andrew Cuomo, Sandra Lee has posted a ton of Instagram pictures of [her and her new fiancé making out](. - Rockefeller Center has hired Beverly Nguyen, a stylist and the founder of the hip homegoods store Beverly's, as a consultant [to make the Midtown plaza cool](. - An update on the two astronauts stuck in space: NASA says they [might not get to come back to Earth until February](. - Zoomers love [going to the gym on a regular basis]( — which has become a headache for many gyms that used to bank on paying members who never actually come in. - New research suggests that cats [grieve](. [“Believe it or not, I hold my breath before I come out of the station because I know that’s when the concentrations are up.”]( - NYU professor Masoud Ghandehari on [HIS STUDY OF TOXIC SUBWAY AIR]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [Families flee NYC in droves over child care costs, affordability]( Gothamist interviewed four sets of parents who shared the reasons why they left — or are planning to leave — the city. They all described anxiety over the cost of child care and housing, as well as a feeling that the city they love was pushing them out. [Mayor Adams ‘can’t’ say if Rikers has a culture of sexual abuse, despite 700+ lawsuits]( Adams made the statement in response to questions about a new Gothamist story detailing allegations against a now-retired correction officer who is accused of sexually assaulting 24 women while they were incarcerated. 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