It’s jail — but with retail!
The city on Wednesday announced plans to build four new lockups so it can close Rikers Island — and is trying to sell neighbors on the idea by adding perks like stores, parking lots, community facilities and even affordable housing.
“Modern facilities would replace the outdated jails of today. These new facilities would be integrated into the look and feel of the neighborhood,” reads a newly released brochure on the plan.
“Their interiors would be built with state-of-the-art design for a more humane, safer environment that promotes better mental health and medical services. Their exteriors would include retail and other amenities to serve the neighborhood.”
The plan follows Mayor de Blasio’s announcement last year that he intends to close scandal-scarred Rikers by 2027 and move the detainees closer to courts and their families in every borough except Staten Island.
De Blasio had been considering using the nearby Manhattan Detention Complex — better known as The Tombs — but that will instead be given back to the community in the form of senior housing, affordable housing or a community center, officials said.
The three other jails are to be built on the site of the NYPD’s Bronx tow pound in Mott Haven, the currently shuttered Queens Detention Center in Kew Gardens and the in-use Brooklyn House of Detention in Boerum Hill. Each of the lockups will include some 1,500 beds for inmates. The brochure promises cushy designs “that optimize access to program space, outdoor space and natural light,” while offering “comfortable visiting rooms for families and children.”
Many Bronx residents have been fighting the proposed jail in their neighborhood and remained unimpressed by the city’s proposal to include a residential building on the site with affordable housing and retail space.
“That’s it, I’m moving. I don’t care what development deal they made. They can keep their new apartments,” said Kassandra Mena, 25. “This neighborhood used to be really bad 20 years ago. A jail is just going to turn it back to what it was. If it’s a choice between new apartments near a jail or no jail at all, I want the second one. I’d rather have no jail.”
Locals say they can’t see themselves shopping there, either.
“What difference would it make? A lot of the people around here are on food stamps,” said a mechanic who works across the street and wouldn’t give his name.
The Bronx is already home to the Vernon C. Bain Center jail barge off Hunts Point — but that would be decommissioned under the new plan.
The city tried to expand Brooklyn’s decrepit 759-bed House of Detention to 1,500 slots and gussy it up with retail space before it reopened in 2012 — but scrapped the upgrade amid community outrage over the bigger size.
Community leaders say they’ve since softened on the idea but still want more details.
“Nobody is in love with the current building. But the community understands the issues at Rikers,” said Howard Kollins, president of the Boerum Hill Association.
“I appreciate the impulse to use retail to integrate [the jail] into the community.“
The city hasn’t revealed the designs or height for the new property, but the zoning would allow for a building up to 40 stories.
Kollins’ group had supported the addition of retail in the previous expansion plan — but other locals weren’t sold, with some noting that nearby Smith Street is already plagued with vacant storefronts. “I don’t think retail is the issue here. There’s plenty of retail space already. The real question is whether you’re OK with having a bigger jail right here,” said a woman who has lived in the area for more than 30 years and gave her name as Liz B.
Queens denizens were more positive about their proposed slammer, which is more removed from residential areas and across the road from a courthouse.
It won’t include retail but is promising around 676 public parking spaces in addition to more than 400 for the facility — even though the city just opened a new 300-space lot at the site a few months ago.
Residents say they think the plan to bring jails into the boroughs makes sense, because it will be easier for loved ones to visit and for inmates to get to and from court hearings. “I think it’s a really good idea,” said Jesse Abraham, 39, a Long Island City auto painter who did a stint in Rikers.
He says he had to get up at 4 a.m. on court dates, wait hours for the buses to be loaded and then could wind up repeating the whole thing the following day if the judge was busy — while his wife had to set aside at least five hours when she wanted to visit him for a single hour.
A guard at the nearby courthouse agreed it will save time and money. “It’s a full-time job to get one guy in front of a judge. This will take an hour instead of all day,” said the guard, who wouldn’t give his name.
The new jails have to be approved by the City Council after going through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which allows community members to weigh in and is expected to kick off next year.
The process usually takes at least six months.
The city has not released any cost projections for the new jails — but for context the abandoned Brooklyn expansion plan was expected to cost around $440 million.
Critics have called for a stepped-up timetable, but the mayor has said that before Rikers can be shut, the city must first reduce its current 8,000-plus inmate population to about 5,000 through programs like supervised release.
Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan and Olivia Bensimon