NEW YORK (Reuters) – Skimpily dressed visitors to New York City's main jail complex can only see inmates if they cover up with an oversized, baggy, green T-shirt as part of a new dress code.
The new rules at Rikers Island aim to maintain a "family friendly" environment at the jail.
The city's Department of Corrections has purchased some 750 T-shirts in an easy-to-track shade of bright green. The shirts, all size XXL, are meant to be shapeless on all but the heaviest frames.
"We are trying to keep this a G-rated experience," Sharman Stein, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "If a visitor is dressed provocatively it could potentially spark a chain of events among inmates."
Prison officials hope to reduce the possibility of inmates making comments about other inmates' visitors' appearance -- be they derogatory or too appreciative -- that could lead to flared tempers and even violence.
The rules also deal with the opposite concern: too much clothing, which might be used to conceal contraband.
The visitor dress code forbids clothes that expose the chest, stomach or back. Hemlines must be no more than three inches (7.6 cm) above the knee. Spandex leggings are frowned upon, as are swimsuits. A visitor's clothes should not be transparent. Hat or head coverings may be worn only if a visitor's religion demands it.
Previously, visitors who fell short of the code would be denied their visit. Now they will be offered the option of shrouding themselves in one of the T-shirts to avoid the frustration of a wasted journey to the prison complex, which sits on an island off the shore of the Bronx, the city's northernmost borough.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jerry Norton)
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