Supreme Court Weighs House of Detention Re-Opening
Following a 75-person rally (that included Comptroller Thompson, Senator Adams and Council Member James and Yassky) on the front steps of the State Supreme Court building yesterday morning, Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix began hearing arguments from the City and from the community group called Stop BHOD which had filed a lawsuit arguing that the city acted…
Following a 75-person rally (that included Comptroller Thompson, Senator Adams and Council Member James and Yassky) on the front steps of the State Supreme Court building yesterday morning, Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix began hearing arguments from the City and from the community group called Stop BHOD which had filed a lawsuit arguing that the city acted improperly by failing to alert the public about the reopening and planned expansion of the facility and not submitting its plan for an environmental impact analysis. According to the Brooklyn Eagle, The argument seemed to boil down to whether or not the city had technically closed the jail back in 2003, and thus would have to re-open it, or whether it had continued to operate it, albeit in a diminished capacity. This is a closed prison, argued Randy Mastro on behalf of Stop BHOD. Five years later, you have a transformed neighborhood. Countered the corporation counsel: There is a jail in Downtown Brooklyn. It exists. It has existed for 50 years. We need it. Both sides have until February 11 to submit additional documents to the court; in the meantime, the city will not house additional overnight prisoners in the facility.
Judge Hears Arguments For and Against ‘Reopening’ of Jail [Brooklyn Eagle]
Closing Bell: HOD Rally Coming Next Week [Brownstoner] GMAP
Inside the Brooklyn House of Detention [Brownstoner]
Not Enough Cash for the HOD [Brownstoner]
HOD Re-Opens for Business [Brownstoner]
Saying No to House of D [Brownstoner]
The jail needs to be by the courthouse. Duh. I am starting to develop a strong bias against NIMBY urban utopias.
crafty- Anyone who lived in the neighborhood, and as close as I did to the HOD knows the HOD had little to no impact on the neighborhood. (1980-end of 2003 qualifies me to be an expert on the changes in the area, don’t you think?)the marshalls, storefront lawyers, etc. were not the problem- they were stable businesses in the neighborhood, and if you judge them by the age of the courthouse you’d know they had been there for many many years. The porn theater (now thankfully gone), Pandora books, and other older, less…er… family neighborhood businesses did not depend on the jail for their livelihood, but on residents.
The jail was pretty much ignored – Boerum Place itself was the dividing line- it had nothing to do with the jail. It’s a huge, wide and dangerous street to cross because of traffic. Boerum Hill seems to have done fine despite it. So I reiterate- the jail was not the problem.
And do a little research about City social services in Crown Heights. It’s been a dumping ground- one reason why we’re fighting the City’s attempt to dump a city-wide intake center in the Bedford Armory. It’s very different from the “problems” downtown Brooklyn has. You have no idea.
God I love New York. Bring back the jail!
BH76- I used to live at 82 Schermerhorn in the white townhouse closest to Court. I loved the area but my apartment was so tiny- even tho’ it was a 2 bedroom. Postage stamp sized rooms, ground floor and dark as a tunnel. it used to be really dicey over there but once 96 opened, things really started changing on the block.
I’d still be there- my landlady was a sweetheart- but when my friend bought a house in CHN and offered me a floor thru, I couldn’t resist.
Dear bxgrl,
I bought a house in this neighborhood 20 years ago and unlike you I stayed.While the jail’s presence was not a deal breaker for me,that doesn’t mean i wouldn’t like to see it gone.Anyone who really knows this neighborhood knows that the jail has always divided Atlantic Ave into two zones to the detriment the Boerum Hill side.Anyone who lived through those years would remember how many bail bondsmen set up shop along Atlanic and the negitive effect they had on the area’s image and development.I guess we’ll have twice as many under the city’s new plan.And more girlfriends catcalling up from the street-and more chain gangs unloaded on State st-and more crime.Welcome to Brooklyn tourists!
By the way I doubt that whatever neighborhood you now live in has been more impacted by social services than downtown Brooklyn.
I think we would be hearing a different tune on this thread if the HOD was located nearer the sacred precincts (Clinton Hill, Park Slope, Fort Greene). I think it is great that the community is pushing back. Who knows what the corrections department has in mind here. They are lying to the community or perhaps they are clueless themselves as to how to re-activate a 1950’s era dinosaur of a prison. I think they are lying through their teeth and hope that the lawsuit will at least get some of the real issues out in the open.
Whining Highfalutin Bourgeoisie Townhouse / Condo / Co-op Owners.
I’ve also lived in Boerum Hill for over 20 years, including a stint in the early 80s on State St. between Hoyt + Bond. I disagree that HOD didn’t have an impact on the neighborhood. Aside from the fact that local residents have little use for all the bail bond offices that serve the HOD (I’d prefer some other retail use) I don’t miss the post visiting hour conversations that people which were conducted by yelling up to their loved ones at all hours.
Agreed, this thing has not been correlated to changes in the neighborhood.