A Rikers inmate got a direct line to Mayor Bill de Blasio for the second time in two months Friday — but was cut off halfway through because of time limits imposed on incarcerated callers.
“You have one minute left,” a computer-generated female voice warned Winston Nguyen as he was speaking to the mayor on WNYC radio.
The inmate managed to ask his question — why does Rikers have a program for mothers to visit their tots, but no equivalent deal for fathers.
“It’s a great point Winston is raising,” the mayor responded shortly before the female voice returned to disconnect the line with an abrupt, “Thank you.”
With Nguyen offline, the mayor continued, “We were focused on moms because there’s a particular need there, but I think it’s a great idea to take it farther.”
Host Brian Lehrer chimed in that “now more people know what it sounds like when you get cut off at the end of your time limit for a phone call from Rikers Island.”
Nguyen was a home health aide — and former Jeopardy! contestant — who is behind bars for stealing over $300,000 from an elderly couple and using the money to buy ballet tickets and trips to Florida, according to authorities.
Before being disconnected, he thanked the mayor for acting on his Feb. 22 complaint about overcrowding in the jail system.
Nguyen said his first call “led to Commissioner [Cynthia] Brann taking out ten of the extra beds in each of the housing units.”
But, he griped, he’s “still waiting to see some meaningful action on some of the other mail issues.”
In February, the activist inmate said mail often takes three weeks to reach prisoners when it’s supposed to be delivered in 48 hours.
De Blasio did not address the mail matter.