Koslowitz Calls For Shorter Kew Gardens Jail In Council Hearing

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — City Council Member Karen Koslowitz called the height of a 27-story jail proposed for her district in Queens "unacceptable" during a public hearing Thursday on the city's plan to close Rikers Island's jails and build four new jails to replace them.

"The height of this building is absolutely, absolutely, absolutely unacceptable to me," Koslowitz said, according to the Queens Daily Eagle. "It cannot be that tall."

Koslowitz, who represents the part of Kew Gardens where the new jail would rise, has long had plans to negotiate down the size of the jail.

She previously pushed Mayor Bill de Blasio's office to nix plans for an infirmary there that would serve all four new jails.

"We are absolutely committed to working with you to reduce the height," Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice deputy director Dana Kaplan said during Thursday's hearing, the Eagle reported.

The proposed jail at 126-02 82nd Ave. would have a capacity of 1,150 detainees, down from the 1,510 beds originally planned.

Thursday's hearing marked one of the final steps in the formal land-use review process of the four-jail plan, which calls for one new jail in every borough except for Staten Island.

The City Planning Commission on Tuesday approved the modified proposal for the new lockups, a linchpin of de Blasio's plan to close the Rikers complex that's long been notorious for violence and inhumane conditions.

Council Speaker Corey Johnson has expressed support for the $8.7 billion plan, but lawmakers can negotiate further changes to it before taking a final vote by the end of next month.

The de Blasio administration says the new jails will be more humane and give detainees better access to their families, attorneys and social services.

But community boards in all four boroughs have voted against the proposal, raising concerns about the size of the jails and the top-down review process.

A vocal coalition of activists, known as No New Jails NYC, has argued the city should not build any more facilities to lock people up.

Patch editor Noah Manskar contributed reporting.