When was the Barge decommissioned ?

In November 2023, The Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, a temporary prison barge near Rikers Island, permanently closed all operations. It most likely will be sold for scarp metal unless a new purpose can be found.

How Big is the Barge?

The five-story barge is a 47,326-ton facility and measures 625-foot-long by 125-foot-wide. This flatbed barge had 16 dormitories, and 100 cells with 800-beds for inmates. For recreation, there was a full-size gym with basketball court, weight lifting rooms, and an outdoor recreation facility on the roof. There were three worship chapels, a modern medical facility, and a library open to inmate use.

Where is the VCBC Located?

The last of an armada of floating jails used by New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Vernon C. Bain sits across the river from Rikers Island Prison, between a wastewater treatment plant and a wholesale fish market in Hunts Point, Bronx, NY.

What is thE Origin Story?

The construction of the VCBC prison barge began in 1989 at Avondale Shipyard, New Orleans. It was finished in 1992 at the price of $160 million. The barge was originally slated to be docked at the Brooklyn Army Terminal or the Mayor's mansion. The site ultimately chosen, at Hunts Point, was selected after protests arose over the other proposed sites. On January 26, 1992, the prison barge was brought to the South Bronx through Long Island Sound by tugboat. The new barge was named for well-liked and respected warden Vernon C. Bain, who had died in an automobile accident.