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Sex Daddy's Dog
In Defense of Wankers
Sex Runnin' Scared: New York's B
In Defense of Wankers
Sex Shots in the Dark
In Defense of Wankers
Sex 'Ayo, shorty!'
In Defense of Wankers
Sex Pizza Shut
In Defense of Wankers
Sex Revolt from Above
In Defense of Wankers
Sex Mopping Up
In Defense of Wankers
Sex Suspects as Usual
In Defense of Wankers
Sex Guns Gone Wild
In Defense of Wankers
Sex Where in the World is Kenny
In Defense of Wankers
Where in the World is Kenny Heller?
Where in the World is Ke
by John E. Coli Nikolai Guns Gone Wild
Guns Gone Wild
by John E. Coli Nikolai
Where in the World is Kenny

Under more pressure from courts, cranky lawyer vanishes by Sean Gardiner June 12th, 2007 5:29 PM The city's most obnoxious lawyer has apparently become the most. . .
Guns Gone Wild

NYPD gunfire goes up while crime goes down. What gives? by Sean Gardiner December 5th, 2006 12:24 PM In the pre-dawn hours of November 25, outside the Kalua Cab. . .
Suspects as Usual

After the Sean Bell shooting, the NYPD opened a surprising investigationinto the victims by Sean Gardiner January 9th, 2007 1:09 PM Thirteen hours after Sean Be. . .
Mopping Up

The ordeal of the New Yorkers sent to clean up the mess at Abu Ghraib by Graham Rayman June 5th, 2007 10:04 PM If you ask some of the members of his military un. . .
Revolt from Above

A family-run union for security guards ousts its members by Tom Robbins June 12th, 2007 6:06 PM Union membership slipped to an all-time low of 12 percent of the. . .
Pizza Shut

The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene got caught with its pants down. It was embarrassed in April when a video, broadcast on local stations and the. . .
'Ayo, shorty!'

Brooklyn girls are fighting back against the boys who harass them by Chlo A. Hilliard June 19th, 2007 8:31 PM Even a poster declaring Street Harassment is a Cri. . .
Shots in the Dark

New worries about HPV vaccine for kidsother than foes' warnings of promiscuity by Jeneen Interlandi June 19th, 2007 8:39 PM When several states tried earlier th. . .
Runnin' Scared: New York's B

Nanny McFee New York's baby-sitters want their fair share by Maria Luisa Tucker June 19th, 2007 8:38 PM It's not a bad-sounding list of job benefits: starting p. . .
Daddy's Dog

Saying she's treated no better than a stray cur, the fifth wife of 'Daddy's Girl' millionaire Bruce McMahan breaks her silence by Kelly Cramer June 19th, 2007 9. . .
News
Long Sentences, Short Stories
Ayo, shorty!
'Ayo, shorty!'
Runnin Scared: New Yorks Baby-Sitters Want Their Fair Share by Maria Luisa Tuc
Runnin' Scared: New York's Baby-Sitters Want Their Fair Share by

135,000 square feet of prime real estate, empty
photo: Clayton Patterson
be social
Daddy's Dog

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Runnin' Scared: New York's B

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Shots in the Dark

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
'Ayo, shorty!'

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Pizza Shut

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Revolt from Above

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Mopping Up

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Suspects as Usual

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Guns Gone Wild

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Where in the World is Kenny

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Guns Gone Wild

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Suspects as Usual

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Mopping Up

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Revolt from Above

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Pizza Shut

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
'Ayo, shorty!'

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Shots in the Dark

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Runnin' Scared: New York's B

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Daddy's Dog

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Guns Gone Wild

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Suspects as Usual

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Mopping Up

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Revolt from Above

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Pizza Shut

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
'Ayo, shorty!'

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Shots in the Dark

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Runnin' Scared: New York's B

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
Daddy's Dog

Runnin' Scared by Mara Altman
It was not your average setting for a book launch party: the George R. Vierno Center (GRVC), one of 10 jails on Rikers Island.

Young men aged 18 to 21 shuffled into an empty basketball gym and filed into bleachers. Except for a pink tag clipped to each prisoner's sleeve, they were dressed in street wear. Spent locked up most of the time, the young men attend school for four hours during the day and the pink tags allow them to walk freely around GRVC.

"Most of these guys are looking at foot- ball numbers, double-digit numbers," says Freebbie Rivera, a teacher, referring to the lengths of their sentences.

Rivera organized the reading from two compilations, Killing the Sky and Aguas Con El Caballo, which consist of short stories by 18 GRVC inmates attending one of two Rikers schools, the Horizon Academy. "I want people to read these stories and say, 'These are real people, not gangsters like portrayed in the movies,' " Rivera says. "I want them to know there is a powerful voice in jail."

Erick Gordon, director of the Student Press Initiative at Columbia University's Teachers College, handed out copies of the paperbacks before stepping to the podium and thanking teachers who had helped out the program, now in its third year. Last September, Gordon and others chose inmates, recorded their oral stories, transcribed them and then worked with the prisoners to edit them down. The finished books will go to public school classrooms around the city.

Gordon says the process wasn't an easy one. "The association most of these guys have with interviewing is the DA," he says. "We have to develop a lot of trust." The logistics were also tough. His authors were often at court, talking with their attorneys, transferred to other facilities, put in solitary, and a few fortunate ones were released.

By the time of the book launch, only one of the 18 authors, 21-year-old Trevor Cole, was actually on hand to read what he'd written.

". . . I was cutting school and got a girl pregnant. That girl got rid of the baby. Whoa, that had me scared," he read from his published story at the podium. Further details emerged: that he was known as "Dee-One" on the street; that he was born in Jamaica and moved to the Bronx when he was four years old; that he started hustling for money to get by.

"I was doing something bad, but I felt excited. I never had a job before and I felt like I was a businessman at the time . . ."

Besides the lesson in writing, Rivera says the process is a valuable one for the opportunity it gives inmates to reflect on what got them locked up. "It gives them an opportunity to look at their lives on paper," he says. "Look at it and analyze it. When they're done, they can say, 'I can't believe I've been in this many problems, I can't believe I did that.' "

Cole neared the end of his excerpt. He read about his young daughter, Aleona, and how he wants to do better by her. ". . . When you're hustling, the law enforcement can take the food out of her mouth, that I'm providing, you know what I mean?" he recited. "So if I do something legit, I know that you can't take my daughter's food away, I'm legit."

Cole sat down to applause, smiling coyly. Other young men read the work of inmates who have already moved on. At the end, everyone retreated to another room to commemorate the day with a small feast. Big tin vats were placed on a long table, filled with food other than the frankfurters and bologna sandwiches the young men are used to on a normal day. There was fried chicken, empanadas, fruit salad, yogurt, and home-baked goods from one of the SPI volunteers.

Cole collected his food and expressed hopes that readers get something from his story. "I want them to know that I'm a good guy inside," he said. "Even though I'm locked up, I'm still a good guy." Cole took a seat behind a table and wielded a pen (which made him visibly happy; inmates are normally restricted to golf pencils) and signed copies of Killing the Sky.

More by Sarah Ferguson
Where in the World is Kenny
Under more pressure from courts, cranky lawyer vanishes by Sean Gardiner June 12th, 2007 5:29 PM The city's most obnoxious lawyer has apparently become the most

Guns Gone Wild
NYPD gunfire goes up while crime goes down. What gives? by Sean Gardiner December 5th, 2006 12:24 PM In the pre-dawn hours of November 25, outside the Kalua Cab

Suspects as Usual
After the Sean Bell shooting, the NYPD opened a surprising investigationinto the victims by Sean Gardiner January 9th, 2007 1:09 PM Thirteen hours after Sean Be

Mopping Up
The ordeal of the New Yorkers sent to clean up the mess at Abu Ghraib by Graham Rayman June 5th, 2007 10:04 PM If you ask some of the members of his military un

Revolt from Above
A family-run union for security guards ousts its members by Tom Robbins June 12th, 2007 6:06 PM Union membership slipped to an all-time low of 12 percent of the

Pizza Shut
The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene got caught with its pants down. It was embarrassed in April when a video, broadcast on local stations and the

'Ayo, shorty!'
Brooklyn girls are fighting back against the boys who harass them by Chlo A. Hilliard June 19th, 2007 8:31 PM Even a poster declaring Street Harassment is a Cri

Shots in the Dark
New worries about HPV vaccine for kidsother than foes' warnings of promiscuity by Jeneen Interlandi June 19th, 2007 8:39 PM When several states tried earlier th

Runnin' Scared: New York's B
Nanny McFee New York's baby-sitters want their fair share by Maria Luisa Tucker June 19th, 2007 8:38 PM It's not a bad-sounding list of job benefits: starting p

Daddy's Dog
Saying she's treated no better than a stray cur, the fifth wife of 'Daddy's Girl' millionaire Bruce McMahan breaks her silence by Kelly Cramer June 19th, 2007 9

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Education Supplement
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Spring Arts Guide
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