‘The Boat,’ Despised Floating Jail Near Rikers, Heads for the Scrap Heap

The jail barge, officially called the Vernon C. Bain Center, was a relic of the crack cocaine era. It was notorious even among Rikers Island’s many troubled lockups.On Monday, former detainees and their loved ones turned out to watch the decommissioned Vernon C. Bain Center jail barge as it was towed from the shoreline of the East River in the South Bronx.