Organized Opposition to House of D Plan Grows
Dozens of Boerum Hill stores and lampposts have started sporting “Stop the Jail” posters, markers of a new group’s efforts to protest the city’s plan to reopen and expand the House of Detention on Smith and Atlantic. The group, Stop BHOD, has launched a website saying it’s comprised of residents from the Brooklyn Heights, Boerum…
Dozens of Boerum Hill stores and lampposts have started sporting “Stop the Jail” posters, markers of a new group’s efforts to protest the city’s plan to reopen and expand the House of Detention on Smith and Atlantic. The group, Stop BHOD, has launched a website saying it’s comprised of residents from the Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens neighborhoods. Stop BHOD’s mission is twofold, according to the site: “Stop BHOD strongly opposes the reopening and expansion of the BHOD. We have made it our mission to stop the misguided plan to place a large prison in a thriving neighborhood with a large community of young children. We have also made it our mission to expose the inaccuracies of the Department of Corrections, a city agency more concerned with control over the site than with economics and the best interests of the community and city as a whole.” Among other things, the group says Corrections is planning a jail with cells that don’t “meet minimum federal or state standards of habitability. Some cells are 40 square feet, half the 80 sqaure foot size recommended by the American Correctional Association.” In March, an entity called the Brooklyn HOD Community Stakeholders Group launched that also opposes the jail expansion.
Stop BHOD [Official Site]
Brooklyn HOD Community Stakeholders Group [Official Site]
‘Stop the Jail’ Movement Begins on Atlantic Ave. [Brooklyn Eagle]
Locals Put Heat On City For Ignoring House of D Plan [Brownstoner]
City Looks to Supersize the House of D [Brownstoner]
(The Bronx jail is being built on a piece of city-owned property and had to be moved for legal reasons- not because of community resistance.)
The jail, which would have been the city’s second largest, drew opposition from Community in Unity, a coalition of nonprofit groups including the Bronx Defenders; Sustainable South Bronx; Critical Resistance, a national group opposed to new prison construction; and the Point, a social services organization based in Hunts Point. It was the community’s resistance that led the DOC to change direction – period. Ask the DOC if you doubt me.
The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, the union representing prison workers opposed a new jail in the Bronx.
The detainees will largely be Brooklyn residents so how you got the impression visitors will be coming from far away is something you obviously are just making up. The DOC has stated they want the detainees closer to their families. That is sound but that does not mean they need to dump it in a residential hood that has changed vastly since 1957 when they originally built it and 2003 when they closed it. The DOC has failed miserably at planning and why we should take them at their word is baffling.
“most of the newest jails there were built in haste, poorly designed” gives one great confidence for the BHOD. Fisrt they closed it to save money and stated that centralized facilities were more efficient now they state they need to decentralize and spend more money to double BHOD. The fact that DOC has not received greater scrutiny in the past has resulted in this poorly executed policy and is grounds for greater scutiny and questioning going forward.
“The Correction’s Union opposed the DOC’s plans in the Bronx and recommended the money would be better spent upgrading Rikers.”
This is absolutely not true. Number one there is no “Correction’s Union.” There are three unions that cover the uniformeed forces working for the Department of Correction. No ‘s’. The Correction Officers Benevolent Association or COBA is the largest, the Correction Captains Association or CCA, the second largest and the Assistan Deputy Warden’s Association. Not one of these unions were opposed to the opening of the facility in the Bronx nor are they opposed to the reopening of the Brooklyn House. Of course, all three support newer smaller jails that equipped to provide more services for the inmates because all of these improvements make the jobs of their members easier. Not one of these unions was in support of upgrading Riker’s Island because as previous posters have already stated, the island is below sea level and is a disaster waiting to happen if there is a need to evacuate. It is inaccessible for the staff many of whom travel there by public transportation. The large jails on Rikers are security risks to both staff and inmates who are both regularly assaulted because the most of the newest jails there were built in haste, poorly designed and the bubble tent and trailer dormitory additions to the existing buildings were only meant to be temporary.
And be that as it may,9:50 but you can hardly say they haven’t studied the impact of the jail on the surrounding community because they have years of data- the jail is not a new addition to the neighborhood, but one that’s been there for years and you can’t claim it’s had a negative effect when you simply have to stick your head out the window to see all the new luxury condos going up, the fancy stores coming in, the wealth of restaurants.
The downtown area is commercial, residential and civic. that’s a reality. 10,000 people up from 4500? The area is huge. they will be going to one facility, or spending money in the neighborhood to eat. the majority of them will be coming from far away with 2-3 hours trips and after visits will simply go home.
the inmates will be kept locked up inside and there is a heavy police presence at all times so they are kept confined, and pretty much out of sight. The police and other prison workers will go out a lunch and spend money in the surrounding businesses (as they have done for over 40 years). so again- what’s the big deal? (The Bronx jail is being built on a piece of city-owned property and had to be moved for legal reasons- not because of community resistance.)
It is a class issue- by the way the reference to sex offenders in the shelters happens to be true, not hysteria. Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens have been very good neighborhoods for a very long time. what they are now is more crowded, more expensive and with fancier stores. and it happened despite the Jail. Obviously the Jail is not impacting in any major or negative way.
To the contrary. There is a proposal to add real social services, counseling, job training and other services to the BHOD rather than simply doubling the size of the HOD. The fact that it is convenient and cost effective is not the argument. That is only one aspect of good public policy. The Correction’s Union opposed the DOC’s plans in the Bronx and recommended the money would be better spent upgrading Rikers. When forced to by the community the DOC came up with some more creative plans that struck a compromise with the community rather than it being force fed to us as this plan is now. The fact that it was there long before condos went up is also not a reason to except the plan as proposed and certainly does not represent enlightened public policy.
It seems to be they want to stop the jail from reopening, with or without an expansion. And considering the non-history of the jail it’s not like they can point to a list of problems other than possibly having to see “shackled” prisoners, hear or catcalls from the inmates. It was there long before all the condos went up, it is a necessary part of the City’s court system and most importantly, it saves them time and money, and makes it a little easier for the families and counsel to see inmates. Moving the jail to a less accessible site is both financially irresponsible and logistically and environmentally unsound.
And it’s tax dollars that will pay for that- not just from the immediate neighborhoods but all over the city. Why should we support them moving the jail somewhere else? I don’t hear them offering to take a few shelters in return.
9:13 the plan is to double the capacity. That’s fairly huge.
They are going to double the size of the population, spend close to 500mm building a second tower and the vistor traffic will likely double from 4500 to 10,000 weekly.
Why is bxgrl so opposed to a liitle sunshine on the DOC’s plans. The constant drumbeat of this is not Disney Land, get used to it, whipping up fear and hysteria,NIMBY etc. is not what this is about. Talk about whipping up hysteria with your reference to sex offenders, rich people not liking the seamier side of life. It is convenient to make this a class issue but it is a false argument. The Bronx fought back and won their battle with the DOC and this fight has many of the same merits. The Bronx was fed up with the DOC and made the right argument. The DOC is now looking at alternative sites in industrila zones. Enough is enough.
The community has changed and changed for the better despite all the complaining about the newcomers. There are more stores, restaurants, residents, than ever before. The reopening and expansion of the jail and the associated impact on the community has not been well examined. The fact that it will be doubled in size is not insignificant. The DOC’s track record with BHOD is pitiful. The money spent on renovations were a joke and may as well been flushed down the toilet.
Could someone please clarify a point for me? I live in the hood and did when the HOD was open and don’t really care one or another. However, if there are plans for the HOD to expand, that’s quite different from re-opening the existing facilities as they were. I am curious as to what that expansion entails — is is relatively minor, or a huge expansion?
I think it is perfectly reasonable for the community to review and make known their views on any expansion of a facility, just the same way as those who lived in the Ikea area, Atlantic Yards, and the big Court Street development that used to be the Longshoreman’s medical center are the focus of community groups. While for some people it may simply be “we don’t want a HOD period”, for others the expansion may be different than the re-opening.
The renovations were not to the holding facilities but to the ground floor- I never said the cells were renovated.
No one says it has to go to a poorer neighborhood but a look at the past shows that indeed poorer neighborhoods get far more than their fair share of shelters, etc. It’s not that there are so many jails, but a neighborhood like Crown Heights has way more of these than other neighborhoods. the city rationale is poor neighborhoods are more cost effective places to put unpopular facilities but in reality the powers that be don’t want to upset their friends in tonier ‘hoods. Rich people don’t like seeing the seamier side of life (although if we go by Spitzer, it’s a futile wish)and want all that unpleasant stuff swept under the rug. I lived within 2 blocks of that jail for years and other than being a butt ugly building there was never a problem.
Other than that, there are plenty of good reasons the jail should stay where it is, and the reasons that are being thrown out for moving it are based on whipping up a false hysteria. contrast that to finding out that a number of registered sex offenders are now lodged in shelters in your neighborhood- and they aren’t locked up or being watched by corrections officers.
and to the poster who wrote “We pay tax dollars for the NYPD to protect us not the DOC.”- exactly what do you think corrections officers are doing if not protecting the public from inmates within the prison system? Think about how ridiculous your comment sounds. Did you think the officers (who are highly trained in police skills)were there just to make sure that inmates get their oatmeal in the morning? In many respects the job they do is even more damgerous on a day to day basis than a street cop, because they are in an enclosed environment.