Jail Plan Blasted As Furious Locals Pack Lower Manhattan Meeting

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — Plans for a Lower Manhattan jail to replace Rikers Island were met with fury at a meeting that was packed past capacity Thursday.

The meeting quickly went off the rails as officials with the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice announced that the room was at its limit of 230 and those waiting to get in would need to wait until others left. City officials tried to present details on the 80 Centre St. project as they were drowned out by chants of "Let them in," "Housing not jails" and "No new jails."

Residents reinforced their ire over what they say is as a lack of meaningful community engagement on the borough-based plan and that the mayor's office is cramming the proposal through too quickly.

"The community in this process is an after thought, the cake is in the oven and the mayor is only asking us, ‘What color is the icing?’” said Nicholas Stabile, a co-founder of the Park Row Alliance, which represents the 1,500 residents between two housing complexes near the proposed jail, Chatham Green and Chatham Towers.

“In selecting the current site, issuing the draft scope of work and beginning the [review] process — all within a six week period — the mayor made the two most fundamental decisions about this project without community input: whether to build a new jail and where to build it."

Last month, the city stunned local leaders with the announcement that it was considering the 80 Centre St. site as an option for Manhattan's borough-based jail. Residents were initially told Downtown’s existing jail — the Manhattan Detention Center, also known as “The Tombs,” at 125 White St. — would be expanded.

The move kicked off a wave of outrage over the lack of community input prior to the city's announcement.

"The relocation to 80 Center St. was a very last minute decision made without the community engagement," said Alysha Lewis-Coleman, the chairwoman of Community Board 3. "We need to understand why 125 White St. was no longer included in the redesign plan, and we need an evaluation of an alternative scenario."

The city seeks to convert 80 Centre St., which is home to the Marriage Bureau and offices with the Manhattan district attorney, into a high-rise detention center to house up to 1,510 inmates.

It is a massive expansion that could see the building rise up to 430 feet, and grow from a 640,000-square-foot building to 1.56 million square feet. It would also include a hunk of space earmarked for the community that could be transformed into affordable housing, a community center or retail space.

The prison is among four new jails proposed in every borough, except for Staten Island, with the aim of shuttering Rikers Island in favor of localized facilities with educational programs, recreational and therapeutic services, community space and parking.

Shuttering Rikers is part of a broader plan to shrink the city's jail population to 5,000 by 2027. As of this year, the city's jail population has hovered around 8,2000 — the lowest in three decades.

Comments on the project's draft scope of work can be submitted to the city by Oct. 29 email at boroughplan@doc.nyc.gov or mail comment to: Howard Judd Fledler, A.I.A, Director of Design Unit, New York City Department of Correction 75-20 Astoria Blvd., Suite 160, East Elmhurst, NY 11370

Photos and video courtesy of Caroline Spivack/Patch