New York Has a Chance to Embrace This New Type of Jail Design (Next City)
Next City, July 13, 2017
New York Has a Chance to Embrace This New Type of Jail Design
“Sometimes it seems like New York City’s largest jail was built to be a disaster. Constructed on a small island in the East River, under the flight path of LaGuardia Airport, the 82-year-old facility is low-lying and spread out. Ten squat detention centers spread across 400 acres, most of it landfill hauled by inmates during one of the jail’s taxpayer-funded expansions….When the Brooklyn House of Detention, a towering mid-century behemoth, reopened on Atlantic Avenue in 2012 after nearly a decade closed, locals were outraged….Five years out, those worries remain unfounded….There can even be perks to having a jail next door, like increased police presence on the street and more activity at night. David Condliffe, executive director of the Center for Community Alternatives and chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Rikers subcommittee, says that one Queens city council member was supportive of the Queens House of Detention potentially reopening because the area around the courthouse ‘has become a dead zone at night.'”
