City Seeks Firms Who Want To Build NYC's New Jails

NEW YORK — The city is moving ahead on its sweeping plans to erect four new jails.

City officials are seeking lists of qualifications from teams that would design and build the new jails, approved in historic City Council vote last month that aims to pave the way for closing the notorious Rikers Island lock-ups.

The Department of Design and Construction wants teams to submit their qualifications, with the deadlines coming up in early 2020.

"A history of exceptional past performance, along with good labor relations and a history of meeting diversity goals, will be critical" when city officials select the firms, DDC Commissioner Lorraine Grillo said in a statement.

"These facilities must be beacons of high-quality civic architecture that integrate into the immediate neighborhood context and are assets to all New Yorkers," added Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice Director Elizabeth Glazer.

The $8.7 billion plan was criticized throughout the review process by community residents opposed to towering lock-ups in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and The Bronx replacing existing facilities and activists with No New Jails NYC who want the city to shutter Rikers and build, as their name suggests, no new jails.

But the plan's supporters saw it as a historic opportunity to close the Rikers jails. The project also coincides with statewide reforms to help reduce the jail population to 3,300 by 2026, down from its current level of about 7,000.

"New York City is at a transformational moment, rethinking and redoing the way in which its justice system operates to ensure it is as small, safe and fair as possible," Glazer said.

Friday's announcement doubles down on the city's plans to construction a new jail in all boroughs except Staten Island through a process known as "design-build," in which a single firm leads design and construction in a process aimed at saving time and money.

"As we move into the next phase of the City's Borough-Based Jails Program it is essential we work with vendors who have Design-Build experience and a proven track record of excellence," Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin said in Friday's announcement.

The city intends to release the so-called "request for qualifications" beginning this month and into spring of 2020. There will be seven total design-build contracts for building a Queens parking garage, dismantling and building "swing space" and then erecting new facilities for Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

The information submitted in early 2020 will determine what design-build firms can apply to the city's later asks for fleshed out proposals.

"When selecting the eventual builders of the new jails, DDC will be looking for vendors with significant Design-Build experience, with an emphasis on a team's ability to design facilities that integrate well into surrounding neighborhoods," Grillo added.