Massive, bloody riot at NYC youth facility exposes chaos at juvenile detention centers
Riot at NYC youth facility exposes chaos at juvenile detention centers
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Skip to main content MetroMassive, bloody riot at NYC youth facility exposes chaos at juvenile detention centers
By Georgett Roberts and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon Published June 29, 2026, 9:00 a.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on GoogleIt was a ticking timebomb.
A massive riot at an overcrowded Bronx juvenile detention center left more than a dozen staffers and youths injured — and exposed ongoing problems at Big Apple youth facilities, The Post has learned.
The NYPD was twice turned away at the door by staffers at the Horizons Juvenile Center during the outbreak on June 21, allowing both employees and facility residents to be slashed and beaten for hours before the melee was brought under control, sources and union officials said.
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The violent outburst comes after years of warnings from critics that soft-on-crime state laws had turned the Big Apple’s youth detention facilities into a powder keg.
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“The melee started at 4:49 p.m. when one unit was being escorted back to their unit from the courtyard,” according to one source. “Three other units — one was already opened without clearance — heard them in the hallway. Staff were assaulted and keys taken, and residents of these units ran out and started attacking each other and also staff members.
“One staff member was pushed up against a glass area with a knife held to her face,” the source said. “Another on the floor had an asthma attack with residents taunting her that she’s going to die.”
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New York’s Finest were dispatched to the troubled facility at 5:25 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. to quell the unrest — but staffers from the city Administration for Children’s Services locked them out both times, allowing the violence to continue, union officials confirmed.
“The injuries sustained by staff included dislocated shoulders, head trauma, neck injuries, back injuries, knee injuries and deep lacerations requiring stitches,” said Darek Robinson, vice president of grievance and legal services for Local 371 of the Social Service Employees Union .
“This incident did not occur without warning,” he said in a statement. “For several weeks leading up to the riot, there were multiple assaults on supervisors and staff involving attempts by residents to seize facility keys.”
Robinson said 187 troubled youngsters were crammed into the 125-bed facility at the time.
The violent outburst comes as the city continues to struggle to control older and more violent residents at two overcrowded and understaffed juvenile detention centers — Horizons and Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn — thanks to a troubling change in state law.
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The Post revealed in 2024 that the soft-on-crime “Raise the Age” law was allowing suspects as old as 21 to be housed with younger alleged delinquents — a recipe for trouble.
The controversial statute, which was implemented in two stages in 2017 and 2018, raised the age of criminal responsibility in the state to 18, and allowed for criminal defendants to remain in juvenile facilities as old as the age of 21.
Before, suspects as young as 16 could be automatically tried in adult criminal court.
A 2024 city Department of Investigation report determined that the resident population at the two detention facilities jumped from a manageable 52 in April 2018 to a 237 in May 2023.
A rep for ACS said Sunday that a total of seven residents and eight staffers were treated at the hospital following a brawl between two groups at the facility.
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“The situation at Horizon Juvenile Center was resolved and the facility is secured,” the spokesperson said. “The safety and security of young people and staff in our secure detention facilities is our top priority.
“We greatly appreciate the efforts made by our dedicated staff, including those who helped de-escalate the situation,” the statement said.
The rep said the agency has beefed up staffing and security, stepping up efforts to keep contraband out of the facility and holding misbehaving residents more accountable.
However, claims of mismanagement and even corruption continue to dog the two facilities.
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A confidential whistleblower report reviewed by The Post alleges that staffers allow some contraband to enter the detention centers, and charged that sexual abuse and favoritism exist behind the walls.
Workers who try to report misconduct are targeted for retaliation, the report claimed.
In addition, Horizon staffers purchased 100 water pistols for residents there, a questionable move given that most of those held at the facility face gun-related charges, the report said.
Meanwhile, the SSEU wants an investigation.
“The union is calling for a full and independent investigation into the June 21 riot, an immediate review of security protocols, accountability for all criminal acts committed during the disturbance, and urgent measures to address overcrowding and staff safety,” Robinson said.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
