Housing May Be Included In New Manhattan Jail Plan After All

CHINATOWN, NY — The city may include affordable housing in its plans to raze and replace the Manhattan Detention Complex with a new high-rise jail after all.

At a recent closed-press meeting with local leaders in Chinatown, Mayor Bill de Blasio reviewed community concerns over plans to build a new Lower Manhattan jail and pledged to support the inclusion of affordable housing if it emerges as a community priority — the vow came one week after an official with the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice said housing is not feasible at the current site.

"If one of the priorities in the community benefits process is more senior affordable housing that is a very powerful priority that I would embrace," the mayor said during the meeting with some 30 community leaders and elected officials, according to a recording of the meeting made public by Chinatown activist Jan Lee.

"If you talk about daycare, if you talk about senior affordable housing or senior services, this is a moment where we are prepared to bring the full weight of the New York City government to address long-standing community concerns."

The mayor's support for the project to potentially include affordable housing came just eight days after Dana Kaplan, the deputy director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, told members of Community Board 1 that building housing "is not possible" on the site of the Manhattan Detention Complex, commonly referred to as "The Tombs," at 125 White St.

The city announced plans in August to build a new jail at 80 Centre St. and convert part of the Manhattan Detention Complex to senior housing, affordable housing or a community center. But the site of the proposed jail has gone through a tumultuous back-and-forth and the city now aims to demolish The Tombs and build a state-of-the-art jail up to 520 feet as part of plans to shutter Rikers Island by 2027.

One reason 80 Centre St. was considered over the Manhattan Detention Complex was the potential to fold housing, among other community amenities, into the project. Now that the city has settled on The Tombs to build a new jail, it is unlikely that it will include housing, Kaplan said at a recent Community Board 1 land use committee meeting.

"In terms of why we thought that 80 Centre St. would have been a better site was because when we initially looked at it we were contemplating if we were to build an entire detention center at 80 Centre St. that we could use one side of 124-125 White St. to replace the [Manhattan District Attorney's] office and then one side could be obviously some type of community development opportunity such as housing," Kaplan said at the time.

"Now, that is not possible in terms of the current site."

Since selecting 125 White St. as the site for the new jail, city officials have forged on with the review process and do not plan to hold a new scoping period or hearing for feedback on the plan.

The move frustrates some community leaders who feel locals have not had an active role in the planning process before the project officially begins the public review known as Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP.

"We feel like we’re reacting to decisions and not being part of the process," said Anthony Notaro, the chairman of Community Board 1, who was present during the mayor's Chinatown meeting.

Notaro appreciated the chance to discuss the plan with the mayor, calling it "positive" but felt the process would have been more transparent if the city restarted its scoping period for the 125 White St. site instead of a private-meeting with a select group of community leaders.

"We wouldn't need this sit down with the mayor to discuss benefits and impacts on the community if we had a new scoping process. All of these concerns would be out in the open there."

The city aims for ULURP to kick off by March 25 with the certification of the project's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. From there, Community Board 1 will have 60 days to review the assessment before the plan continues on to Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer's office for review.

Mayor Bill de Blasio discussed the city's plan to build a new high-rise jail in Lower Manhattan with local leaders on Dec. 18. (Photo courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)