9. Rikers Island
Photo: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO
After his arraignment, Nasir gets taken to Rikers Island while he awaits trial. We’ve worked inside this jail and there are definitely aspects of the place that are captured well. The only actual scene at Rikers filmed for the show is the shot of the bus going over Rikers Island Bridge, the only public access on and off the island. The exterior scenes are filmed at the former Queens House of Detention in Kew Gardens, Queens located at 126-02 82nd Avenue. This location is also used as the jail in Mr. Robot.
Rikers Island, the city’s main jail complex, is not a prison – it hosts those detained by the Department of Corrections awaiting trail, those who cannot afford or were denied bail, and those serving sentences of one year or less. As such, it is unlikely that the characters shown in The Night Of serving for manslaughter, murder and other serious crimes, would be in Rikers Island here on a long-term basis. What the show depicts accurately are the long waits to see detainees.