Politicians Speaking Out Against House of D Plan
Elected officials are starting to make some noise about the city’s plan to re-open and expand the House of Detention on Atlantic Avenue, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. On Thursday Councilman David Yassky is going to hold a press conference decrying the plan, and he’s expected to be joined by Councilman Bill de Blasio and…
Elected officials are starting to make some noise about the city’s plan to re-open and expand the House of Detention on Atlantic Avenue, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. On Thursday Councilman David Yassky is going to hold a press conference decrying the plan, and he’s expected to be joined by Councilman Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Bill Thompson. The event will mark the first time politicians speak out in a big, organized way against the plan. The Eagle also mentions the new neighborhood group that’s formed to protest the House of D reopening. The group, Stop BOHD, has placed signs like the one above all over Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill. One of Stop BOHD’s members is a lawyer from a firm that successfully sued to stop a similar House of Detention opening in the Bronx.
Downtown Mobilizes To Stop Jail Expansion [Brooklyn Eagle]
Organized Opposition to House of D Plan Grows [Brownstoner]
Locals Put Heat On City For Ignoring House of D Plan [Brownstoner]
City Looks to Supersize the House of D [Brownstoner]
I forgot to sign off to my 10:24 post.
– bxgrl
Personally I don’t mind that it’s a jail, I just don’t want it to look like a jail and be the tallest building in the neighborhood.
The fact that the one building visible from anywhere in Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens, is a grotesque and filthy
white-brick building with bars around it, is a clear message from the local government that they are watching and warning us, and they control us.
Do I look up in the sky and see a monument to individualism, freedom and entrepreneurial spirit? NO, I see an Eastern-Bloc-like symbol of a government all-too-eager to overstep its authority and force all to capitulate to a collective bondage.
So, either build a taller, nicer-looking building on the south side of Atlantic that obscures the jail from those us who are oppression-sensitive, OR build a new facade around it that masks the fact that it’s a jail. Call it “Freedom Jail … Tower … thing.” Or maybe put some lights or fountains or something on it. I dunno. I stopped taking my meds … uhhhh … where ….
1. The trailers parked outside of the Brooklyn House were staff locker rooms. There are no and never were any (official) conjugal visits in any of the city jails.
2. DOC did not purchase post-Katrina trailers. They do however house inmates in trailer dormitories whuch are attached to the older jails on Rikers. They were supposed to be a temporary fix for a burgeoning jail population back in 1991. New jail construction was planned in 1995-1998 but due to budget cuts, the plans were sacked. The dorms are now falling apart and not very secure.
3. Rikers is below sea level in the East River. During high tide, staff members who park too close to the parking lots edge, often find their cars submerged in water. In the event of a major hurricane, the entire island would be underground. Evacuation would be almost impossible because there is only one two lane bridge on and off of the island and there not enough buses to get everybody off.
4. DOC center of operations must be spread out. This makes good tactical sense. It is harder for gangs and organized crime to communicate when they don’t have proximity to each other. Inmates in one jail can currently pass information by leaving notes called kites, in the recreation yards.
5. Laguardia airport is literally feet away from the Island. One plane crashed onto the island in the 1950’s and another into the river almost severing the bridge in 1988. In 1950 there were no injuries to anyone on the island because there was only one jail on the island at that time. There are now 10 and the entire bus fleet is stationed on Rikers.
6. The Brooklyn House opened in 1957 on Atlantic to replace the Raymond Street jail which had been there since the 1800’s. Raymond Street is now Ashland Place. There has ALWAYS been a jail downtown, near the courts.
7. The residents of East Elmhurst carry more than their share of the burden by housing the city’s inmates most of whom come from Brooklyn, the most populus borough.
All of the above are excellent reasons why the jail should reopen right where it is and the DOC should build another in the Bronx. BTW, Brooklyn House had to house inmates, especially those on-trial, with Staten Island cases. So DOC should be looking for another site to build a jail in Staten Island.
I used to live in the House of D, so I know everything there is about it.
– bxgrl
dave- we need you over on the Bed-Stuy thread. The trolls have overrun the place :-).
Welcome to brownstoner 3:14.
I feel like posts are being deleted. This string of posts makes no sense…
These bold face liars are a effing menance to this site!
Bxgrl…ummm, now I’m even more confused. But not as confused as most of the guests are on the topics today.