Stories

The Man Who Charged Himself with Murder

Trevell Coleman wasn't sure whether he'd killed a man. But after 17 years he needed to find out.
New York | November 18, 2012

31 Shocks Later

Andre McCollins's mother thought she'd finally found the right school for her son—one equipped to treat his behavioral and developmental problems. Then she got a closer look at that treatment.
New York | September 2, 2012

Taxinomics: A Night in the Life of a Cabbie

Cheapskate customers, endless expenses: It's all part of the job.
New York | May 25, 2012

Pvt. Danny Chen, 1992-2011

He was 19 years old, a scrawny six-four, and wanted nothing more than to join the Army. Just like so many other young men. But very few from Chinatown.
New York | January 6, 2012

The Knock at the Door

The last thing child-welfare supervisor Chereece Bell wanted to see was what happened to 4-year-old Marchella Pierce. The last thing she expected was to go to jail for it.
New York | September 11, 2011

Hope, Fear and Insomnia

Journey of a Jobless Man
The New York Times | September 2, 2011

Would Any of These Guys Buy Jimmy Hoffa a Drink?

Sandy Pope was the daughter of an investment banker. She quit school and became a trucker. Now she wants to run the Teamsters. And make unions thrive again. Ambitious.
New York | May 1, 2011

Machete

Mohamed Jalloh and his family fled rebels in Sierra Leone for the relative safety of New York. Then the danger caught up with them.
New York  | November 8, 2010

The Nanny Uprising

In the struggle over rights for household workers, the political is very personal.
New York  | June 14, 2010

After the Blood on the Tracks

Motormen’s lament.
New York | March 29, 2010

The Lost Boys of Tryon

Inside New York’s most infamous juvenile prison, where troubled kids—abused and forgotten—learn to become troubled adults.
New York | February 2, 2010

Blood Brothers

Robert Sanchez and Felix Aponte had a lot in common, including Sing Sing and bad luck. So when Robert needed a kidney, it seemed like a chance to save both their lives. Until bad luck struck again.
New York | November 23, 2009

Last Home Standing

Jacqueline Tamaklo lives in one of New York's most foreclosure-ridden neighborhoods. And now she’s fighting not to end up like the Joneses.
New York | September 14, 2009

The Town Car 500

Livery-cab drivers are racing for a dwindling number of calls, and a lone teenage dispatcher is referee of the road.
New York | March 2, 2009

Hamid & Sons

An immigrant family’s 40-year quest for the American dream.
New York | October 6, 2008

Slammed: Welcome to the Age of Incarceration

What happens when you lock up 1 in every 100 American adults?
Mother Jones | July/August 2008

Blood on the Tracks

Every time a trackworker goes into the tunnels, there’s a chance he won’t come back out. What the world looks like when a 400-ton train is barreling toward you at 30 miles per hour.
New York | May 12, 2008

The House Where They Live

There are 45 sex offenders living in one small Long Island town, 17 on the same block, 7 in a single suburban ranch. Inside a sex-offender cluster.
New York | January 7, 2008

School of Shock

Inside the taxpayer-funded program that treats American kids like enemy combatants.
Mother Jones | September/October 2007

The Deliverymen’s Uprising

For $1.75 an hour, they put up with abusive employers, muggers, rain, snow, potholes, car accidents, six-day weeks, and lousy tips. Not anymore.
New York | August 13, 2007

The Panhandler’s Payday

Eddie Wise hustled for every dollar in his pocket. Until he got a check for $100,000.
New York | May 14, 2007

A Hard-Earned Life

A father’s paycheck reads $676. It has to last two weeks. Start the clock.
New York | November 6, 2006

Over the Edge

The suicide of a 14-year-old boy
The Village Voice | March 21, 2006

Banned From the Barbershop

The quiet death of a fighter for civil rights
The Village Voice | November 1, 2005

The Unforgiven

Shelley Hendrickson killed her abusive husband and went to jail. Then an old friend began a campaign to set her free—along with 10 other women.
Mother Jones | July/August 2005

The Juror and the Convict

Lynne Harriton was the jury foreman at Andre Smith’s trial in the Carnegie Deli murder case. Now she’s his closest friend.
The Village Voice | June 28, 2005

Baby Madness

How one young woman’s delusions cost her years of freedom
The Village Voice | April 19, 2005

The Last Executioner

Dow B. Hover was paid by New York State to run its electric chair in the 1950s and ’60s. The job may have cost him more than he earned.
The Village Voice | January 18, 2005

A Beaten Path Back to Prison

An op-ed
The New York Times | May 8, 2004

Life Without Parole?

Inside New York City’s busiest parole office
The New York Times Magazine | May 19, 2002

Anatomy of a Prison Murder

Guards Watch as a Prisoner Kills His Cellmate
The Village Voice | April 3, 2001

Roaming Rikers

Stun Shields, Stray Cats, Buck-Fifties, Boofing: The Top Brass’s Tour of America’s Largest Penal Colony
The Village Voice | December 12, 2000

The Supermax Solution

Hopes, Fears, and Prison Building In an Upstate New York Town
The Village Voice | May 18, 1999