The title is misleading. There’s 9-ish residents that live on McNeil, and they all work for the prison. Buddy of mine used to date the wardens daughter. Had to ride the prison ferry to their dope-ass house that was on sex offender island
The article itself claims "McNeil Island, nestled in Puget Sound, is unpopulated except for the 214 people who live at the special commitment center, a facility for former prison inmates."
So is the article completely wrong?
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/nyregion/citys-annual-cos...
> New York State was the most expensive, with an average cost of $60,000 per prison inmate. [New York City] paid $167,731 to feed, house and guard each inmate last year, according to a study the Independent Budget Office released this week.
The governor proposed free community college for inmates, citing drastic reductions in recidivism rates - it would've paid for itself many times over - but voters flipped out.
Food, shelter, plumbing, facilities upkeep, medical/psychological care, and very high security costs? That really isn't a surprising figure. Prison are incredibly expensive. It's a great argument for minimizing prison populations to only people that pose immediate threats to others and focusing as much as possible on reducing recidivism.