This is due to the sheer size of the project: the prison tower will measure a good 90 meters. It would be almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty, which is 93 meters high. The city government is pushing ahead with the project in light of the impending end of Rikers Island. After all: The evacuation of the largest prison in the city – designed for over 10,000 people – was already decided in 2019.
Rikers Island is seen in the US and beyond as a symbol of the violence and misery behind bars. By 2027, the facility will be replaced by four smaller prisons in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan (or Chinatown). According to planners, the detention center in Chinatown should be a “more humane institution” in the immediate vicinity of the city’s courthouses.
Reuters/Mike Segar The prison island of Rikers Island, on which there are a total of ten detention centers, is heading towards closure
However, the construction of the tower has been delayed significantly, writes the “Guardian”. According to the British newspaper, this is partly due to the broad resistance of the population. Even New York Mayor Eric Adams was once opposed to the project — but that was back when the Democrat was running for mayor.
“Quality of life impaired”
Residents fear the 45-story, $2 billion project could lead to an increased police presence and more high-rise prisons in the area, the New York Post reports. The project is already becoming an endurance test for residents and local business people: another building has to be demolished before the high-rise prison can be built.
“The quality of life is already being affected by the demolition work,” the resident and restaurant operator Zhan Chen is quoted as saying in the “New York Post”. Residents of a nearby retirement home not only suffered from the noise, but above all from the poor air quality. Business owners hit by the coronavirus pandemic fear further losses.
IMAGO/Zoonar/.com/dalibor brlek Residents and businesspeople in New York’s Chinatown are opposed to the plans
“More than a third of Chinatown’s 300 restaurants closed during the pandemic,” said Wellington Chen, chief of the Chinatown Business Improvement District (Chinatown BID). The association is committed to better framework conditions for local businesses. New places would only open up very slowly – Chen puts this in connection with the demolition in addition to an increase in hate crimes aimed at people of Asian descent.
Detention center has to give way to a high-rise prison
Specifically, the Manhattan Detention Complex, known among New Yorkers as “Tombs” (graves, note) has to give way to the new prison tower. The conditions of detention in the institution are considered bleak. That should change with the new prison – according to the Guardian, it should have three times as many floors. The number of beds, on the other hand, is unlikely to change much – there are currently 900. There are also recreation areas, medical departments and visitor areas with playrooms for children.
The skepticism of the population remains high. This is also due to the fact that the concrete plans for the high-rise prison are still unknown. The city has yet to decide which contractor it wants to use to design and build the building, even though demolition work is well underway. “It’s like building a bridge as you cross it,” says Jan Lee. Lee started the Neighbors United Below Canal Street movement, which opposes the prison.
„Jail Town“ statt Chinatown?
Lee expects a “huge building that stretches two to three blocks in all directions and is as tall as the Statue of Liberty,” he tells The Guardian. In the city center, the high-rise prison will be visible everywhere. Along with a neighboring jail and criminal court, Chinatown will soon be known as “Jail Town,” he says.
In the USA, prisons and correctional facilities have different names. “Jail”, “prison”, “correctional center”, “detention center” and others, there are federal and state, county and city operated prisons. “Jails” correspond most closely to remand prisons in this country or those for short sentences, “prisons” prisons in which the inmates serve longer to life imprisonment.
Concern about condition of existing buildings
The high-rise prison in Chinatown falls into the jail category. Architectural historian Kerri Culhane reckons it will be “disproportionately large” and its shadow could potentially reach the Manhattan Bridge. This would make it “the defining architectural feature of the area,” she says.
Lee, who organized a sit-in with other residents in April, points to the poor structure of the surrounding buildings. “These are buildings that are built cheaply, aren’t reinforced with steel, and are on very shallow foundations,” says Lee. Buried beneath the site is a former pond and toxic waste dump that would need to be drained before the new tower could be built. “We’re talking about hundreds of families who may need to be evacuated to safety overnight.”
City councilor Christopher Marte sees the fact that there are repeated delays in the plans as an advantage. He thinks it’s possible that the city will run out of money for the billion-dollar project over time. The city wants to stick to the plans despite all the criticism.
2023-08-27 09:14:16
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