Split Decision on House of Detention
Yesterday’s decision in State Supreme Court regarding the future of the Brooklyn House of Detention had something in it for both sides: The city expressed pleasure with the ruling that allows it to resume operating the 759-bed jail as it did prior to closing it in 2003. (It’s been operating it on at a reduced…
Yesterday’s decision in State Supreme Court regarding the future of the Brooklyn House of Detention had something in it for both sides: The city expressed pleasure with the ruling that allows it to resume operating the 759-bed jail as it did prior to closing it in 2003. (It’s been operating it on at a reduced capacity since last November.) Neighborhood activists and politicians who have been speaking out against the city’s plan to double the jail’s capacity in a half-billion-dollar build-out were happy with the part of the decision that required any future expansion to be prefaced by environmental and land use reviews. The lawyer for the opponents, Randy Mastro, called the ruling a huge victory for the community and a vindication of its right to meaningful public input before the city commits itself to such massive projects. Opposition group Stop BHOD and other community groups and public officials will be holding a protest on the steps of City Hall tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.
Court Allows Brooklyn Jail to Reopen [NY Times]
Judge Clears Reopening of Brooklyn Jail [NYT/City Room]
Brooklyn House of Detention Can Reopen, Judge Rules [NY Daily News]
Judge: City can reopen House of D [Brooklyn Paper]
Judge Reopens Jail Doors [Brooklyn Eagle]
“The facility has been there forever but somehow it has never grown on people. It is just such an alien presence in the streetscape. Designed and built at the very lowest point of American urban awareness and sensitivity. I’m sure it is obsolete in terms of the interior layout and securty.”
GROWN on people?? “Alien presence???” It’s a JAIL for LOCKING PEOPLE UP! It’s not SUPOSED to “grow” on anyone!! Man, I really have to agree with the What! What in God’s name are some of you thinking?? It’s been there as a jail- for generations – and the surrounding neighborhood has IMPROVED in that time.
Had to join in solely because of the unusual and unprecedented coalition developing on this thread and I thought I should join. I once worked with an environmental lawyer in Philadelphia who told me the best way to make sure a facility that might pose an environmental hazard is run cleanly is to place it in Chestnut Hill (DIBS can tell you, but it is a neighborhood of residents comparable to BH living in beautiful old stone houses to rival the best frame victorians in VF). I can’t imagine where we would want the HOD other than right next to the courts and under the watchful eyes of some of the City’s most vigilant and perhaps overentitled neighbors (sorry, Biff, I don’t mean you). Relocate it to some neighborhod that doesn’t advocate for itself with quite the same ardor, effectiveness or clout and with the added risk of long busrides of suspected criminals (snarled in AY construction-induced traffic no doubt) and the like, and the risks attendant to operating the HOD would undoubtedly increase.
corrections can hardly be said to have abandoned a building they spent millions on renovating. They – as What correctly points out- downsized the population but it never actually closed.
As far as it being built at the lowest level of urban awareness and sensitivity- huh? In point of fact it was put where it made the most sense and it was the neighborhood that changed around it. What is this “grow on people?” It’s certainly no uglier or alien than much of the new architecture being thrown up all over Brooklyn. Less glass, truly ugly lobby, but considering what’s going up, I think it fits right in.
brooklyngent- I do care where it goes. I live in a neighborhood that’s an afterthought to the Mayor. He treats us like a storage room where you stick everything you want out of sight. It makes no economic sense to move the facility or build a new one somewhere else. Not economically, nor ecologically. YOu would have to go way back in the archives to see some of the arguments ajbout transport. I think it was gman who made very good points in that.
The jail is convenient to the nearby criminal courts buildings, some of which have been around for more than 70 years … the building on Schermerhorn comes to mind. The jail services the nearby court buildings, and is in a central location, easy to access by all means of public transportation. [See Rikers Island for a jail facility that’s truly a bitch to get to, even via private car.] Sure, one could build a jail in another part of Kings County. But add up all the new construction costs, the usual NIMBY litigation, and all the diesel fuel wasted by transporting prisoners from somewhere else in Brooklyn to the court complex downtown … and you’re talking AIG bonus money, baby!
The facility has been there forever but somehow it has never grown on people. It is just such an alien presence in the streetscape. Designed and built at the very lowest point of American urban awareness and sensitivity. I’m sure it is obsolete in terms of the interior layout and securty.
It is just an unloved building. Even corrections abandoned it years ago. I have a feeling this saga will continue.
“But to those of you who insist that it doesn’t, how can you also raise the argument that it’s not fair to put it in another neighborhood? I mean, if it really makes no difference, then why do you care? By the way, I’m not advocating that it be moved to a poorer neighborhood, per se, but a less residential one.
OK Dumbasses I’m tired of going back and forth. The Brooklyn HOD never closed, they just reduced the population while the remolding was going on. I you look in there the facility is fully operational because some inmates cases are going on right now and it would be a logistical nightmare going back to Rykers every night.
Note to Retards: The Brooklyn HOD is not moving, not closing down and will be back to full operations when crime spikes again!
The corrections department sold a suitable piece of land in the navy yard a few years back, if I remember correctly, but I believe that there are still other cheap, far less residential areas in Brooklyn available.”
That property belong to the US Government not the NYC Department of Corrections. Why in the F**** would the city build a new jail when one is right there???????????!!!!!!!!!
The What (I’m Done)
Someday this war is gonna end
“Brooklyn Gent let me guess. You just flew into JFK with your backpack from Spokane Wash, Right???”
How’d you guess, What? I just flew in, and while I’m sitting here at the terminal waiting for the wallet inspector to come back, I thought it would be an exciting experience (something to write home to my folks on the farm about) to get into a discussion on a brooklyn centric real estate blog.
Ok, I guess it can be argued whether the HOD has a negative impact on the neighborhood. I think that it does, having lived here from 2000-2002 and moved back last year. But to those of you who insist that it doesn’t, how can you also raise the argument that it’s not fair to put it in another neighborhood? I mean, if it really makes no difference, then why do you care? By the way, I’m not advocating that it be moved to a poorer neighborhood, per se, but a less residential one. The corrections department sold a suitable piece of land in the navy yard a few years back, if I remember correctly, but I believe that there are still other cheap, far less residential areas in Brooklyn available.
Bxgrl, I’ve been reading these arguments for a while, and I can’t honestly remember anyone responding to a point like the one that I made regarding the transportation situation.
Wow nice job by the judiciary….perfect compromise in these recessionary times – it makes ZERO sense to close a recently upgraded facility ($85M) yet it makes even less sense to essentially throw out the $85M upgrade and drop another 400M on a facility that hasnt even been used in years. The land use/environmental reviews will essentially kill the expansion – the reopening will allow the city to begin to amortize the cost of the recent upgrades (and maybe even save some on transport costs).
I am not familiar with Justice Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix but she deserves credit on this one!
“you people”
Is that code?