Rendering Courtesy of NYC DDC
City Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Jamie Torres-Springer called the Borough-Based Jails Program “part of a once-in-many-generations opportunity to build a smaller and more humane justice system that includes four facilities grounded in dignity and respect, offering better connections to and space for families, attorneys, courts, medical and mental health care, education, therapeutic programming and service providers.”
By Michael V. Cusenza
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday announced the beginning of construction activities on the parking garage and community space alongside a new jail in Kew Gardens. The construction marks the first major activity in the Borough-Based Jails Program, a $8.3-billion effort to construct four new, smaller jails in Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn to replace the archaic jail system on Rikers Island.
The garage and community space will be constructed at the program’s Queens site, adjacent to Queens Borough Hall and the Queens Criminal Courthouse that make up the heart of the borough’s civic center. The new, approximately 105-foot tall structure will include a 25,000-square-foot, two-level, flexible, multi-purpose community space, plus more than 600 public parking spots.
“Today we move one huge step closer to our goal of a fairer and more equitable jail system for all New Yorkers,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Closing Rikers Island will make our city stronger and more just, and I’m proud to deliver a system that better reflects this city’s values.”
The structure is being built on the west side of an existing parking lot at Union Turnpike between 126th Street and 132nd Street. The east side of the parking lot will remain open during construction, providing 140 parking spots to the community until work is complete in early-2023. The adjacent Queens Detention Complex will begin demolition during the garage construction and then the new Queens jail will be built spanning the east side of the parking lot and the former Queens Detention Complex site.
To minimize the effect on the environment and the City’s infrastructure, the parking garage and community space will include a partial planted green roof, solar panels and on-site stormwater retention. As a result, the community space portion of the project is expected to qualify for LEED Gold certification for environmental sustainability. The project may also be the first in the City to qualify for Parksmart certification, the only certification program that recognizes high-performing, sustainable garages.
The NYC Department of Design and Construction is managing the overall Borough-Based Jails program citywide. The 886-bed Queens jail will be designed with a maximum height of 195 feet and will house female detainees in a separate facility within the jail.
“This project is part of a once-in-many-generations opportunity to build a smaller and more humane justice system that includes four facilities grounded in dignity and respect, offering better connections to and space for families, attorneys, courts, medical and mental health care, education, therapeutic programming and service providers,” said NYC Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Jamie Torres-Springer.
Critics of the Borough-based Jail System proposal are leery of the new facilities and the seemingly breakneck pace that has been implemented to get them up and running. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has been a vocal critic of the project since her days as Queens borough president.
“Reforming our city’s jails system is too critical a mission to take on without adequate community engagement or proper planning, as we must strive to avoid recreating the same atmosphere of violence and dehumanization found on Rikers Island upon four new facilities in neighborhoods across the city,” Katz wrote in June 2019 in her official recommendation of disapproval.
