$10M Park Fixes, Theatre Among Chinatown's Givebacks For New Jail

CHINATOWN, NY — A community theatre. Some $10 million in parks upgrades. Rent credits for small businesses.

These are just a few of the local givebacks Council Member Margaret Chin announced just ahead of a historic vote to demolish and rebuild the Manhattan Detention Complex — a part of moving towards closing Rikers Island and cutting the jail population in half that passed in City Council on Thursday.

Some of the commitments center around the new jail's neighbor, the Chung Pak senior building, where 88 elderly families live. Neighbors and public health experts have raised fears the construction project would harm seniors next door.

In response, the city has designed the new jail to have a 40-foot setback to increase the distance between the senior building and the new jail, rather than build directly against it, Chin's office announced.

An enclosure over a terrace garden will be built to protect the garden, HVAC and window upgrades will be constructed and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development will extend the affordability plan for the 88 apartments at Chung Pak, she announced.

The commitments, according to Chin's office, include:

• A 40-foot setback and enclosure over terrace to protect Chung Pak's garden from dust
• HVAC and window upgrades at Chung Pak
• Extended affordability plan for 88 units at Chung Pak through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development
• Department of Design and Construction and a consultant will hold workshops with neighbors and set up an on-site office for residents to contact city agencies about construction issues
• Chung Pak's small businesses on Walker, Baxter and Centre streets will get $1.3 million in rent credits
• Businesses on Baxter and Centre street will be provided umbrella scaffolding to decrease visibility issues for the small businesses
• Chung Pak's lease will be extended to 2078
• $10 million in capital work for Columbus Park for an improved pavilion and ADA-compliant bathrooms
• A commitment that no open space near the park will be used for construction staging
• A new cultural performance space in the Museum of Chinese in America at 215 Centre St.
• An elevator at 70 Mulberry St., where various non-profits are housed

"Since the beginning of the public review process, Council Member Chin has stood with residents to highlight concerns around safety, construction mitigation, small business protections and community investments," her office said in a release.

In her vote in support of the jail, Chin said the plans will transform the detention complex into a humane and safe facility.

Her spokesman Rush Perez said the investments weren't a condition of her yes vote, but rather "legitimate concerns about the impacts of construction on the community," as she has always supported closing Rikers Island.

The citywide strategy to close Rikers involves reducing the city's jail population from its current level of about 7,000 to 3,300 and building four new jails in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx. City officials have said the new jails would be designed to be more humane, and closer to the courts system for easier access to lawyers and court hearings as well as for families and loved ones.

Previously, the Manhattan jail was expected to rise 450 feet, something neighbors felt would tower over the neighborhood. City Council announced Tuesday it would reduce the heights between 50 and 155 feet in response to neighborhood concerns; in Manhattan, the new jail will rise about 295 feet.

The Mayor's office also announced some $391 million in criminal justice system investments.

Opponents have railed against the plan for myriad reasons — some opposed to a towering jail in their neighborhoods and others of the group No New Jails NYC who see the plan as an expansion program and want the city to shutter Rikers and build, as its name suggests, no new jails.

The group protested at City Hall during the vote, throwing flyers over a balcony onto the floor and chanting, "if they build it, they will fill it!"

As Council voted to approve the jail plan, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said, "Let's make no mistake about this, this is a step forward. This is progress. This is the right thing to do."

"We're on the cusp of a new, more humane era for our city," Johnson said in a statement.