Shuttered Harlem Jail Will Serve As Migrant Housing

HARLEM, NY — A shuttered jail in Harlem will serve as temporary housing for asylum seekers arriving daily from out of state, multiple publications reported, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office confirmed to Patch.

The Lincoln Correctional Facility on West 110th Street along Central Park North, between Malcolm X. Blvd. and Fifth Avenue, will open as housing for migrants by the end of the week.

"The City and State have agreed to use 31033 W. 110th Street in Manhattan, one of the State-owned properties we identified, as a temporary respite center for asylum seekers, and we have begun the process to transform the space so it is appropriately welcoming," the Governor's office said in a statement.

The statement also said that it would be a "temporary and short-term use" of the Lincoln Correctional Facility.

The Lincoln Correctional Facility was shuttered in 2020 due to a dwindling local prison population by then Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

It had served as a minimum-security institution from 1976 to 2020.

Plans for the prison were originally to replace it with a luxury building touting unobstructed views of Central Park, but the plans received major push back, specifically from current Upper West Side Council Member Gale Brewer.

Brewer instead floated the idea of turning it into a jail for women, before that plan was eventually replaced by Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announcing this March that the site would be used for affordable housing.

There are no jail cells remaining in the building.