With sentencing just days away, reports have emerged of how Harvey Weinstein is coping in his new ‘pad’ - a cell in the notorious Rikers Island Jail.
It was to this institution that 67-year-old Weinstein was taken after his rape conviction on the 24th of February. He was ordered to be held without bail for raping a hairstylist and forcibly performing oral sex on a former production assistant.
Rikers is a 1.67 km2 island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx, and home to this New York City main jail complex - it is also one of the largest correctional and mental institutions in the world. There is a daily average of 10,000 inmates, the majority of which are pretrial defendants, either held on bail or remanded in custody. The rest have been convicted and are serving short sentences. Weinstein is said to be sharing his stark new surroundings with two older inmates.
According to Pagesix.com, his spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said that he has had his walker taken away and is finding it difficult to adapt to using a wheelchair. It was while trying to walk on his own that he apparently took a nasty tumble on Saturday night and was said by Englemayer to be feeling ‘miserable.’ Engelmayer did however also say that Weinstein is “trying to be optimistic as best he can. He has had a lot of time to think about his life and be humbled, but he thinks it’s going to be a long, uphill battle from here.”
All that Weinstein currently has is a bed, and an open stainless steel sink and toilet - a huge contrast to his former life of luxury.
Weinstein was transferred to Rikers Island on March 5 after spending nearly two weeks at Bellevue Hospital where he underwent an angioplasty procedure. The disgraced producer could face up to 29 years in prison after sentencing on Wednesday.
The R260 million rand former home of Harvey Weinstein.
A typical cell at Rikers Island.
