OPINION & ORDER Plaintiff Judon McLeod, proceeding prose, filed this action under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against Defendants Deputy Warden Hellen Smith, Commissioner Cynthia Brann, and Correction Officer Janet Williams, alleging that Defendants violated his constitutional rights while he was detained at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island by depriving him of the ability to attend the Jumu’ah service on November 10, 2017. Now before the Court is Defendant Williams’ motion for summary judgment.1 For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s motion is granted. BACKGROUND2 On November 10, 2017, Plaintiff was detained at the Anna M. Kross Center (“AMKC”), a New York City Department of Correction facility on Rikers Island. Def. 56.1 1. He was housed specifically in “housing area W 19U” of the facility. Def. 56.1 2. Plaintiff identifies as Muslim and, as part of his Muslim faith, attends a religious service known as “Jumu’ah” on Fridays. See Def. 56.1 4; Pl. Opp’n 1(iv). Jumu’ah services are usually held between 1:00 p.m. and 1:20 p.m. on Fridays. See Kalmbach Decl. Ex. A (“Pl. Tr.”) at 32. On November 10, 2017, AMKC, including housing area W19U, was “placed on lockdown from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.” Def. 56.1 3. During a lockdown, inmates are “generally not allowed to move around the facility.” Def. 56.1 5. Plaintiff testified that he does not recall ever attending the Jumu’ah service while the facility was on lockdown. See id.; see also Pl. Tr. at 32 (“If the facility is on lockdown you cannot leave unless it’s for medical purposes only[.]“). Nonetheless, despite the lockdown at AMKC, a Jumu’ah service was held on November 10, 2017. See Def. 56.1 7; Pl. Opp’n 3. At 1:20 p.m., “all housing areas in AMKC were notified that Jumu’ah would take place during the lockdown.” Def. 56.1 6; see also Pl. Opp’n 1 (v) (stating that the “Juma Services Logbook” entries “clearly show[] that all housing units, including W 19U[,] at AKMC were notified to prepare for Juma Services.”); Pl. Opp’n 3 (“There is no factual dispute that despite the lockdown the Tour Commander authorized Juma Services on November 10, 2017 and that all housing units were notified well in advance to prepare inmates for the services.”). Plaintiff did not attend the Jumu’ah service on November 10, 2017. Def. 56.1 7. Plaintiff asserts that no other inmates from his housing unit, W19U, attended the service that day either, even though there are “at least eight (8) men who regularly attended the weekly Jumu’ah Services from the housing unit.” Pl. Opp’n 3. The record is not entirely clear as to why Plaintiff missed the Jumu’ah service on November 10, 2017. On the one hand, Plaintiff contends that “he did not hear an announcement regarding Jumu’ah on November 10, 2017.” Def. 56.1 8; see also Pl. Tr. at 34. He claims that, specifically, Defendant Williams did not announce the service, and therefore denied him and other Muslim inmates from Wl9U “the opportunity to attend services” that day. See Pl. Opp’n 4.3 On the other hand, however, Plaintiff testified at his deposition that he had asked a correction officer — during the lockdown and prior to the Jumu’ah service-if he could attend it, and was told that he could not because the facility was on lockdown. See Def. 56.1
9-10; Pl. Tr. at 36-37. Plaintiff filed a grievance regarding his alleged inability to attend the November 10, 2017 service. See Def. 56.1 12; see also Kalmbach Deel. Ex. D (Nov. 10, 2017 Grievance). He did not, however, attend a hearing or receive any type of decision as to that grievance. See Def. 56.1
