Community Board 1 Presses City Planners on New Jail Design
In advance of two upcoming inflection points, Community Board 1 is documenting concerns about the design of the planned Manhattan Detention Complex (MDC), which is slated to occupy a site between Centre and Baxter Streets, with a pedestrian arcade straddling White Street.
The first event will be a public online construction kick-off meeting, open to all, this Thursday (January 22). The next turning point will be the first of several reviews (not yet scheduled) of these designs by the City’s Public Design Commission (PDC), the agency from which approval is required for all architecture that will occupy public land.
In a December 18 letter to PDC executive director Sreoshy Banerjea, CB1 chair Tammy Meltzer asked, “how do the building’s structural systems, column spacing, floor-to-floor heights, and core configurations enable future conversion to non-carceral uses without requiring demolition or fundamental reconstruction?” This adaptability to other possible uses (such as healthcare, education, or affordable housing) was promised by City Hall in its 2019 Points of Agreement with CB1.
Concerning the pedestrian arcade, Ms. Meltzer noted, “while the White Street passage has been described as a ‘flexible hub for community activation,’” CB1 wants, “greater clarity regarding intended programming, hours of access, management responsibilities, lighting, and security, in order to understand how the space would function in practice as part of the public realm.” This caveat relates to similar promises made to the Lower Manhattan community when the former (now demolished) MDC was built in the 1980. The design of that building also incorporated a pedestrian arcade, but this was quickly closed to the public for use as a parking lot for the personal vehicles of Department of Corrections personnel.
Regarding resiliency, Ms. Meltzer asked “how flood-mitigation measures – including flood walls, plinths, and deployable elements – are integrated into the overall architectural language and relate to entrances, streetscapes, and the public realm.”
Construction is now expected to begin on the 335-foot structure (slated to be the world’s tallest jail) in 2027 (the year it was originally supposed to be completed) and continue through 2032. Among Lower Manhattan residents, the plan to demolish and rebuild MDC (which critics and skeptics argue will cost billions more than its projected budget, an allocation that has jumped from $2.73 to $4.18 billion) has become a flashpoint, largely because of the environmental and health hazards that years of demolition and construction could impose on the surrounding community.
To register for remote attendance at Thursday’s online construction kick-off meeting, which begins at 5:30pm, please click https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eBvVIdfOTqCkJhc1_30LpQ#/registration