See photos of the last prison ship still operating in the US. The 5-story vessel is slated to close this week.

• America's last functional prison ship, New York's Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, is closing.
• The facility was introduced in 1992 as a remedy for overcrowding at Rikers Island. 
• The center has been criticized for poor living conditions and lack of sanitation.

NEW YORK — Kenneth Williams spent his whole life in Brooklyn, but it wasn't until a night in 2018 when he crossed a narrow footbridge in shackles that he learned about New York City's last floating jail. He remembers the murky East River water below him, the stench of mold, and a sinking feeling that soon turned literal.