Queens Borough President Katz Votes No To Kew Gardens Jail Plan

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — Queens Borough President Melinda Katz has advised the City Planning Commission to reject the mayor's proposal for a new jail in Kew Gardens.

Katz on Wednesday issued a formal recommendation against a proposed, 1,410-bed jail at 126-02 82nd Ave., one of four new jails proposed citywide as part of a long-term plan to close the notorious detention facilities on Rikers Island.

In her recommendation, Katz named a lack of "meaningful" community involvement and the size of the jail as reasons for her decision.

"Reforming our city’s jails system is too critical a mission to take on without adequate community engagement or proper planning," Katz said in a statement. "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."

The recommendations of the borough president and the local community board are largely advisory. The City Planning Commission will now decide via a majority vote whether to approve the application and advance it to a City Council vote, which is the last step in the review process.

If Katz had recommended an alternative site for the jail, the planning commission would need nine votes rather than seven to approve the jail application, the New York City charter says.

The current plan calls for demolishing the former Queens Detention Center Complex, which is next to Queens Criminal Court.

Spokespeople for the borough president did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why Katz chose not to recommend an alternative site.

Katz's recommendation follows Queens Community Board 9's unanimous vote to reject the Kew Gardens jail proposal, citing similar concerns.

Mayor Bill de Blasio last year announced plans to build four new jails— one in every borough except Staten Island. The new jails would replace detention facilities on Rikers Island, de Blasio says, and reduce the city's jail population from 9,400 to 5,000 by the year 2026.

Advocates say they doubt the city will stay true to its promise to close Rikers, since there is nothing legally obligating officials to follow through on that pledge — and many of those officials, including de Blasio, will no longer be in office by 2026.