Unfortunately my view here in Kansas is about the same as yours!
This is a question for some Freeper in NY to answer!
Info From Wikipedia.
“The 625-foot-long (191 m) by 125-foot-wide (38 m) flatbed barge has 14 dormitories and 100 cells for inmates.[5] For recreation, there is a full-size gym with basketball court, weight lifting rooms, and an outdoor recreation facility on the roof. There are three worship chapels, a modern medical facility, and a library open to inmate use.[35] The 47,326-ton facility is on the water, and when it opened, 3 or more maritime crew were maintained under Coast Guard regulations.[36] According to John Klumpp, the barge’s first captain, in 2002, “the Coast Guard, after years of monitoring the prison barge, finally accepted the reality that that it was, de facto, a jail and not a boat.”[37] The prison barge is located in Hunts Point in the South Bronx, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from SUNY Maritime College at Throggs Neck.[38]
Re: your 199 about a barge;
It will need to be protected by guys that trained to board and take sea-going vessels, which would mean SEALs. They would know the points of vulnerability, and could set up an excellent defense against boarding. I have no doubt that very powerful people have some very skilled people (with requisite equipment) on retainer.