City Fishing for Jail Block Developers
Trying to soften the blow of sticking the newly revitalized community with another 700 to 800 inmates, the city is testing the waters with developers to gauge interest in erecting two 10-15 story residential buildings with ground floor retail on the back side of the jail along Boerum Place and State Street. (Boerum Place runs…
Trying to soften the blow of sticking the newly revitalized community with another 700 to 800 inmates, the city is testing the waters with developers to gauge interest in erecting two 10-15 story residential buildings with ground floor retail on the back side of the jail along Boerum Place and State Street. (Boerum Place runs along the foreground of this photo; State Street recedes back into the photo.) If the developers don’t bite, the city will just build something else. There’s no preference for residential, but we certainly wanted to test the market to see what the developers thought, said Jennifer K. Friedman, a vice president in the city’s Economic Development Corporation, which is soliciting the responses. “It’s absurd to take an obsolete building and sink more taxpayer money into it, said Sandy Balboza, president of the Atlantic Avenue Betterment Association. At this rate, Sandy may have to worry about a rival neighborhood group springing up: How does the Atlantic Avenue Detriment Association sound? Does anyone remember how much taxpayer money is going to be spent on this effort at making criminals’ lives more convenient? On the other hand, the neighborhood really could use some more places to get bail bonds. People are getting really tired of restaurants and clothing boutiques. They are so 2006.
City Tests Idea of Building Apartments by Brooklyn Jail [NY Times]
City Eyes Unlocking Brooklyn Jail [Metro]
Change in ‘Store’ at B’klyn Jail [NY Post]
good point about the gas station. pretty soon we will need a quarter tank of gas just to drive to the nearest pump.
As the one who made the racism accusation, I stand by it, given the tone of many of the posts. Not one of those who propose putting the jail in some isolated part of town has addressed the needs of the court system for easy access and the ability of family members to see loved ones. Downtown Brooklyn is exactly that, downtown, with extensive transportation alternatives and proximity to where people work. I have seen similar wish to remove colored and poor folk from downtown Brooklyn in the discussions about the Fulton Street corridor and the Officer’s Row. Poor people don’t deserve to live where I want to live, cry the newly entitled. And then they pout that they aren’t racists, why they took an Black History class at Wesleyan.
Putting every public building on the periphery of the city because a private developer would pay more money for the site for housing is assinine. Why shouldn’t the public have easy access to their government and its functions? A centrally located jail can be for the community’s benefit. Sometimes it isn’t just about maximizing economic benefit..
Let’s put this in context. If you move the jail (to a more “appropriate” neighborhood) you’ll need all of the following:
– courthouses in the same area
– plenty of commercial space for attorneys, court reporters, bail bondsmen, and all of the other people who are required to keep the legal system running
– a full complement of public transportation so that the jurors, jailers, and citizens that need to get to the courts can actually access them
– some parking (doesn’t need to be accessive, but at a minimum enough for the judges)
– some limited retail space so that all of these people have places where they can buy lunch or a cup of coffee
In my mind these are the basics. Where in Brooklyn does this magical land exist? There isn’t another area that serves as a crossroad for all the subway lines and bus lines except for downtown Brooklyn. Are you all really suggesting that the courts be relocated to Canarsie, Brownsville, or Coney Island? Or perhaps that prisoners should be transported through residential neighborhoods on a daily basis so that a hot housing market isn’t affected? Jails are close to courthouses for a reason. Move one and you’ll need to move the other, or pay for prisioners to be transported, and deal with the reprecussions of those transfers. I usually agree with Brownstoner on issues, but I gotta say you’re dead wrong on this. The fact that everyone has chosen to make the area around the courts and jail a “hot nabe” doesn’t mean that justice should be relocated.
Yes, but we don’t have anywhere to get gas now. I used to have my car serviced at one of those stations.
put the jail in AY; that would be an additional public good (just adding to the humor). Who knows, it just might tip the scale.
I think the very last thing they would consider doing is moving the jail. Nobody wants a jail near them. There would be long fights with politicians and community boards wherever they would propose to relocate. Also, there is logic to having the jail near the courts and accessible to transit. This is where the jail is and where it will stay. Let’s hope they do the best project possible here and not try to cut corners. parking for the officers and for families will do a lot to appease the community. A new jail that is not so hideous and blends in with downtown would be a big plus, stores and restaurants along Atlantic Ave would be a big plus. Will they do this the right way? it depends on what sort of response they get from the private development community. Here is a case where a private developer could do something great for the commnity while also making a profit.
Those of us who have lived in downtown Brooklyn/Boerum Hill longer than the new experts at 53 Boerum or 110 Livingston etc. know that the jail itself has had almost no impact on the neighborhood in any real sense. Best — the presence of court officers and police 24/7 was a crime deterent when one was needed back in the 80s. Worst, the same court officers and police use the streets as their long-term parking (cars that literally do not move for weeks at a time, and with sensitive and loud alarms on them!). Courts and the insitutions that support them (including jails) deserve to be in central urban centers with good public transportation. There is no reason that they and we cannot exist together. As much as I admire Sanday Balboza and what she and the AABA has done for the neighborhood, the two (now gone) gas stations at the south side of Atlnatic have done more to create the “dead” block than the jail. With any reasonable development there, the jail will be a non-issue.
I just hope they build in some parking. The police already use Smith St next to the jail as a parking lot. If you and I parked the way they do we would get towed.
Of course if we ran red lights the way they do we would get tickets, but when you have power why not abuse it?
Just so its clear – I have absolutely no problem with the jail where it is – as it is.
BUT
if the city is planning on sinking even more $ into this facility then I think a rational look at the economics is in order.
The City put something like 50M into the building AFTER it was closed and now wants to sink hundreds of millions more to expand it – while at the same time apparently demolishing the recent $50M of ‘improvements’.
This strikes me as insanity, especially if the prisoners will still need to be transported to the courthouse (i.e. investing tons of $ into a facility that already isn’t ideally suited).
Frankly if they need a new/larger jail it would make ALOT more sense building it atop the old Family Court Building and attach it to the new Criminal/Supreme Court Building – at least then you would save on (massive) transportation costs.
The current plan makes no sense – Clearly the city has some reluctance in expanding and reopening a jail in the burgeoning downtown area – so then why not at least capitalize on the increased land value and save on construction costs by building a new building in a cheaper and less residential area. (which will allow you to use the current facility in the meantime) You can be sure that retrofitting the existing structure and developing it into some kind of mixed use site will be far more expensive then simply building a dedicated jail in a nearby yet more conducive spot. (not to mention that you will have no use of the current facility for years)
BTW I also think it is absolutely ridiculous that the jail sits empty now – if the jail is needed and in fact already needs expansion – then at least open the damn thing up until at least you decide what to do.