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Friday, March 29, 2024

Height of Borough-Based Jails Slashed to Get City Council Support for $8.7B Project

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By: James McNeill

Those four new proposed jails that Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to replace Rikers Island have gotten nine floors shorter. The goal of the shrinkage: to get the City Council on board with the $8.7 billion project, which is set for a vote tomorrow.

New York, NY – City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitting and Dispositions, Adrienne Adams, and Council Members Diana Ayala, Margaret Chin, Karen Koslowitz and Stephen Levin announced today that as result of the expected drop in the average daily jail population, community engagement, and design-efficient improvements, the maximum height for the new borough-based facilities needed to close Rikers Island will be significantly reduced from its original proposed plan.

The first proposal called for jail facilities ranging from a 450 feet height to 245 feet. The latest height proposal ranges from a maximum of 295 feet to 195 feet.

These design changes are in response to the concerns raised by the four communities which will house the new jails, and will help better integrate them into their neighborhoods.

The changes are feasible in large part because of four primary factors. First, the state bail reforms that went into effect in April 2019, which will result in fewer people being detained in city jails. Second, the expansion of the city-funded supervised release program, which will also drive down the number of people in jail. The third factor is the relocation of at least 250 beds from the new borough-based facilities into NYC Health & Hospitals facilities, to house individuals diagnosed with a serious mental illness or other serious health issues in a more clinical setting. And lastly, design changes that reconfigured housing floor plans for the new borough based jails from double loaded corridors to single loaded corridor, resulting in one additional housing unit per floor in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.

The original borough-based facilities were designed with an expected average daily jail population of 5,000 by 2026. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and de Blasio announced on Monday that the expected average daily jail population for 2026 is now 3,300 due to the expectation of fewer people incarcerated.

All four borough-based facilities will see a reduction in size:

  • Bronx: from 245 feet down to 195 feet (equivalent of 24 floors high to 19 floors high).
  • Brooklyn: from 395 feet to 295 feet (39 floors to 29 floors high).
  • Manhattan: from 450 feet to 295 feet (45 floors to 29 floors high).
  • Queens: from 270 feet to 195 feet (27 floors to 19 floors high).

The City Council is grateful for the community input, and will continue to ask for feedback as the borough-based facilities are being designed.

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