NEW YORK • Power was restored Sunday night at a federal detention center in New York City where inmates had been living largely without heat or electricity for the past week, according to a statement from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Protesters have gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in recent days following news reports that those housed there have largely been without heat or power for the past week and also haven’t been able to communicate with lawyers or loved ones. Outdoor temperatures have been well below freezing on some recent days, though Sunday was warmer.

In its statement the agency said it was “working to restore the facility to normal operations.”

Earlier Sunday, some demonstrators attempted to enter the facility, and guards drove them back with pushes and shoves. Witnesses said they also used pepper spray. A reporter and photographer for The Associated Press were at the facility when a woman, whose son is being detained, tried to get into the jail.

On Sunday, an inmate was able to call through the window of his cell, which faces out to the street, to his mother below. The woman, Yvonne Murchison, was crying and upset and tried to get into the facility, where visits have been stopped.

“I’d trade places with him any day, that’s my child,” she said.

She was followed by activists and media into the lobby, where visitors have to pass through metal detectors.

Witnesses said officers used significant force to push the people out, with some of those attempting to come in being pushed to the ground. The AP photographer felt some type of spray, and began to have trouble breathing. Those affected were seen washing out their eyes with water or milk.

The Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged that the jail “experienced a partial power outage due to a fire in the switch gear room.”

A woman makes a sign outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. Prisoners there have been without heat, hot water, electricity and sanitation for a week.

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