Should NYC Continue with the Tombs' Expansion Plan?
The Manhattan Detention Complex (NYDailyNews)
By Nicolette Hendrawinata
For over 200 years, the grim towers of the Manhattan Detention Complex —more infamously known as the Tombs — had loomed over bustling restaurants and shops near White street, Chinatown. Nearing the end of 2018, Mayor de Blasio announced a plan that would potentially throw even more gloom into the area: the expansion of the Tombs into a 45-story, 1.27-million-square-feet jail which would carry roughly 1,500 beds. This plan was met with mixed reactions, as some administrators hoped the expansion would revolutionize New York City’s jail system, while surrounding Chinatown residents worried that it would greatly decrease the living quality of the area without actually stopping the mass incarceration of Black and Latinx populations. Considering that the costs towards the Chinatown community might greatly outweigh the potential benefits towards prisoners, should de Blasio and his administration proceed with the Tombs’ expansion?
Pro: The City’s Reasons to Expand
De Blasio’s plan to expand the Tombs was part of his administration’s 10-year project to close the eight jails on Rikers Island and replace them with four borough-based jails in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan’s Chinatown. In total, the four newly renovated jails would carry 6,000 beds to accommodate 5,000 expected prisoners from Rikers Island by 2027. Rikers and the existing borough prisons currently house approximately 7,300 prisoners, but the lower projected numbers were justified by the trend of declining crime rates in New York City and de Blasio’s strategy to create alternatives to incarceration. Therefore, while the execution of the project involves the expansion of individual borough prisons such as the Tombs, its ultimate goal is to shrink the city’s overall correctional system.
Meanwhile, the reasoning behind the demolition of the Rikers Island prisons was their isolated locations and unsafe physical conditions, which caused its primarily Black and Latinx prisoners to live in highly violent environments. In 2021 alone, the monitoring team reported 12 deaths under Rikers’ custody, at least five of them by suicide. They also reported 39 stabbings and slashings in August 2021, a significant increase from the 7 reported in August 2020. According to Dan Gallagher, an architect who specialized in designing detention centers, moving prisons away from remote places like Rikers to community-based places like Manhattan’s Chinatown will ideally decrease violent incidents by increasing accountability and easing access to justice courts.
As a result of these compelling arguments, all four City Council members in the districts in which the borough prisons will be constructed voted in favor of the expansion proposal. Margaret Chin, who is in charge of District 1 where the Tombs are located, stated that the effort to close Rikers is “an important step to reforming [their] broken criminal justice system while deepening support for the communities who need them the most.” With support from administrators, the city drafted an initial plan to shutter the Tombs by November 2020 and start the demolition by June 2021.
Con: Opposition from the Chinatown Community
Even though the plan for the expansion of the Tombs was received positively by the majority of city representatives, the same could not be said for Chinatown residents surrounding the prison. Ever since its announcement in 2018, the plan had received backlash from neighborhood advocacy groups, local activists, and local state assembly members such as Yuh-Line Niou. Most of the opposition falls into three categories: concerns about the impact of construction on the living quality of the area, criticism about de Blasio’s method of compensation, and skepticism about whether the project will be effective in stopping the violence of mass incarceration.
Local activists and advocacy groups worry that the construction of the massive prison will exacerbate health and environmental issues for the aging Chinatown population. A health impact research study conducted by Neighborhood United Below Canal (NUBC) and NYU Langone Center confirmed that regulated concentrations of building site emissions may be severely damaging to the health of elderly people. Longtime resident Karlin Chan also pointed out that Columbus Park, a popular spot where seniors often gather to play mahjong or practice tai-chi, is situated right across the street from the Tombs and will therefore be exposed to any air pollution created by the construction. Thus, while de Blasio’s plan runs on the premise of protecting prisoners, the mayor and his administration also have to consider how they can minimize harm for other vulnerable groups including Chinatown’s elderly.
In addition to concerns about living qualities, many residents are left unsatisfied by de Blasio’s plans to compensate communities affected by the jail expansion. With recent controversies surrounding Museum President Nancy Yao Maasbach and Museum Co-Chair Jonathan Chu, local activists are especially critical of the mayor’s $35 million grant to the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA). In a pamphlet that protesters had recently circulate around the community, the grant was blatantly described as a “bribe” so Maasbach and MOCA can “lend an Asian-American face to the mayor’s displacement plan.” Likewise, a Facebook post from Chinatown Art Brigade demanded that artists and visitors boycott MOCA until the museum “take actionable steps to be accountable to the community.” Based on these various protest movements, it is evident Chinatown had not willingly chosen MOCA to receive the compensation on their behalf. In the future, de Blasio and his administration should consult more local groups to decide what they could do to truly help community members in need.
The third category of opposition was highly skeptical that the Mayor’s strategy to replace Rikers with community-based jails would be successful in decreasing incarceration rates and violence within city prisons. In her statement on the State Assembly website, District 65's Yuh-Line Niou argued that the primary cause for the horrible conditions in Rikers is the inhumane treatment of pre-trial detainees by guards. As a result, Niou continued, many community members are concerned that moving the site of the prison without any clear plans to overhaul the guards’ education system or to provide mental health services for detainees will only create four equally-violent “mini-Rikers” scattered around the city. Niou’s statement signifies that Chinatown’s reluctance to accept the Tombs’ expansion came not only from a place of self-interest, but from consideration about the wellbeing of other New York citizens who are detained in prisons. This statement also implies that de Blasio and his administration needs to seriously reconsider the value of building the borough-based jails, specifically whether the potential benefits is truly worth the cost burdened towards communities like Chinatown.
Conclusion
Three years after its announcement, the expansion of the Tombs remains a controversial plan that can be viewed from multiple perspectives. On one hand, it is a desperate ploy to move away from New York City’s history of prison violence in isolated sites like Rikers Island. On the other hand, it is a highly expensive plan that will require huge sacrifices from low income and vulnerable communities who may not be able to afford it, such as Chinatown. As someone who currently lives a walking distance away from the Tombs, I have to be skeptical about this massive, pollution-creating prison, especially considering that de Blasio doesn’t seem to have clear plans of reform for the corrupt internal system. Before proceeding with the expansion plan, it is critical that the mayor and the administration first demonstrate to the community that their elderly will be protected from any adverse environmental effects, that everyone affected will be compensated for any inconvenience, and most importantly, that the plan will truly be an effective step forward in alleviating the horrors of mass incarceration.
