WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.369 >>You 2 00:00:02.369 --> 00:00:03.826 know when you're incarcerated it's all you dream of to 3 00:00:03.826 --> 00:00:09.589 have is a good cup of coffee, not the instant stuff. You 4 00:00:09.589 --> 00:00:13.839 know what everyday something will remind 5 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:17.389 you of being in prison. It can be the silliest things from 6 00:00:17.969 --> 00:00:20.939 the commodities in prison which is cigarettes, sugar, 7 00:00:20.939 --> 00:00:25.079 and coffee to getting up in the morning time with 8 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:28.319 my girlfriend and my stepdaughter and I look and the 9 00:00:28.319 --> 00:00:31.079 coffee is running low and I'm like yes, I gotta stock up 10 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:33.559 on some more coffee and it reminds me of hoarding 11 00:00:33.559 --> 00:00:36.139 coffee in prison and things like that. I can't lock any 12 00:00:36.139 --> 00:00:40.029 gates. You get all eyes on you everywhere. You know 13 00:00:40.029 --> 00:00:42.979 today putting the lock on the gate, you know, made me 14 00:00:42.979 --> 00:00:47.159 think about being in prison. My name is 15 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:51.279 Chris Carney. I'm 41 years old. I'm originally from 16 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:56.249 Boston, Massachusetts by way of New York, you 17 00:00:56.249 --> 00:00:59.599 know, being a felon there's not many employers that 18 00:00:59.599 --> 00:01:03.489 will employ somebody and put the keys to a 19 00:01:03.489 --> 00:01:05.989 multimillion dollar building in their hands. 20 00:01:06.189 --> 00:01:10.999 >>All the windows have a little that you can open 21 00:01:10.999 --> 00:01:11.202 on the top. 22 00:01:11.202 --> 00:01:14.129 >>Here I am enrolled as superintendent. I've got 114 23 00:01:14.429 --> 00:01:18.719 apartments, an 11- storey building. We 24 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:22.249 have affordable housing in the building and we have 25 00:01:23.249 --> 00:01:27.329 formerly incarcerated living within the building and 26 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:31.529 the nice thing to say what do I see with the interaction, 27 00:01:31.529 --> 00:01:33.949 I see there is no barriers. 28 00:01:34.559 --> 00:01:38.274 >>And I'm as big are them. I don't care how small the 29 00:01:38.274 --> 00:01:40.695 critter is and you have to see me try to get up because 30 00:01:40.695 --> 00:01:40.779 it was when I was like oh no. 31 00:01:40.779 --> 00:01:44.724 >>You tell them get back to your garden and get out 32 00:01:44.724 --> 00:01:49.989 of my apartment. I 33 00:01:49.989 --> 00:01:54.619 picked up a gun on a Friday night. I knew a 34 00:01:54.619 --> 00:01:57.909 bookie that you could place bets with in the city who 35 00:01:58.109 --> 00:02:00.999 ran a spot out of a liquor store on the lower East side 36 00:02:00.999 --> 00:02:05.079 and I rolled in, robbed them. In 37 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:09.149 a couple of minutes of not thinking and 38 00:02:09.329 --> 00:02:11.889 committing a crime, I almost put myself in prison for 39 00:02:11.889 --> 00:02:12.604 the rest of my life. 40 00:02:12.604 --> 00:02:12.847 >>Yes. 41 00:02:12.847 --> 00:02:15.272 >>Okay. You look just like the woman in that new 42 00:02:15.272 --> 00:02:16.726 apartment and that's the stuff we'd-- 43 00:02:16.727 --> 00:02:16.969 >>Right. 44 00:02:16.969 --> 00:02:20.299 >>You know I didn't advertise my history when I was 45 00:02:20.299 --> 00:02:24.299 meeting people, but I have some different things in the 46 00:02:24.299 --> 00:02:26.629 building with my picture up from different things I was 47 00:02:26.629 --> 00:02:29.819 involved with. I've had people pull me aside and asked 48 00:02:29.819 --> 00:02:34.989 me Chris, were you incarcerated? It's 49 00:02:35.019 --> 00:02:37.879 getting over the scare factor, you know. You don't 50 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:39.989 wanna say listen. I'm your super. I was formerly 51 00:02:39.989 --> 00:02:43.069 incarcerated and you know I'm the guy with the keys 52 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:44.879 who's gonna be coming and doing repairs at your 53 00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:47.044 apartment. You can't come at them like that. 54 00:02:47.044 --> 00:02:48.121 >>Thank you. 55 00:02:48.121 --> 00:02:48.869 >>Thank you. 56 00:02:48.929 --> 00:02:51.079 >>All right. 57 00:02:51.149 --> 00:02:54.739 >>It's one showing them who you are, you know. I live 58 00:02:54.739 --> 00:02:58.119 here with my family. My family, my daughter plays with 59 00:02:58.119 --> 00:03:01.739 the kids in the building you know. We're all in the same 60 00:03:01.739 --> 00:03:05.579 building. We're all neighbors. People that were 61 00:03:05.579 --> 00:03:08.524 formerly incarcerated make better employees. 62 00:03:08.524 --> 00:03:11.849 >>Hey, Chris. Are you with Ms. Page? 63 00:03:11.849 --> 00:03:15.589 >>No. Ms. Page is just separated-- Why? Because 64 00:03:15.589 --> 00:03:19.799 they have more to lose. They've been through 65 00:03:19.799 --> 00:03:23.269 it as far as knowing that they're at a stage of their life 66 00:03:23.269 --> 00:03:26.699 they need to keep employment. Somebody who is 67 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:31.049 incarcerated, who has the ability to take job training, 68 00:03:31.279 --> 00:03:34.609 to take college classes, that is a person that when they 69 00:03:34.609 --> 00:03:37.639 get out is going to be a successful person. That is a 70 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:41.069 person that is going to be a taxpayer. That is a person 71 00:03:41.069 --> 00:03:43.979 that is not gonna be in the front page of the paper who 72 00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:46.469 is reoffending going back to prison. Going up. 73 00:03:46.469 --> 00:03:46.939 >>Up. 74 00:03:46.939 --> 00:03:47.879 >>All right. 75 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:48.209 >>What's up? 76 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:55.059 >>You know and they look at me and they say that's 77 00:03:55.059 --> 00:03:57.754 one of the guys, he's never done a day in prison, you 78 00:03:57.754 --> 00:04:00.404 know. And I might not tell them at first when I mention 79 00:04:00.404 --> 00:04:03.119 that to them and you know we got something in 80 00:04:03.119 --> 00:04:04.674 common. We came from the same place. 81 00:04:04.674 --> 00:04:06.609 >>The shop. That's what I used for all of it. 82 00:04:06.939 --> 00:04:11.309 >>You are a success story until you have either 83 00:04:11.309 --> 00:04:14.909 relapsed, failed, or something's happened. So you 84 00:04:14.909 --> 00:04:17.379 know I don't wanna be that, you know. We used to 85 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:20.769 have this super Chris here and, you know, he was 86 00:04:20.769 --> 00:04:24.304 doing a good job and something happened. I'm trying 87 00:04:24.304 --> 00:04:26.759 to do the right thing and it's basically, you know, 88 00:04:27.099 --> 00:04:31.499 getting up every day, you know, and realizing that I'm 89 00:04:31.499 --> 00:04:35.849 free. I'm out. I got my life back and put 90 00:04:35.849 --> 00:04:36.834 the rest behind me.