The Plan to Reduce the Capacity of the City's Jail System and Create Community Jails
March 9, 2009. The Department of Correction has launched an effort to reduce the capacity of the city’s jail system and to modernize the jails and make them more accessible by replacing old capacity on Rikers Island with new facilities in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
In the Bronx, the plan calls for construction of a 1,500-bed jail to hold male detainees awaiting court appearances in Bronx courts. It could also include removal of the 800-bed jail barge on the site, thus opening a large section of waterfront for community use.
In Brooklyn, the plan calls for full utilization of the existing Brooklyn Detention Center and an expansion of the facility through construction of a 720-bed building on the same parcel. The expanded facility would hold inmates arrested in Brooklyn and awaiting appearances in the Brooklyn courts, including the courthouse that is connected to the existing jail.
The plan would eliminate outdated and dilapidated facilities on Rikers Island and replace them with newer, safer and more secure jails, reduce the time and money involved in delivering inmates to court (the Department currently buses 1,500 inmates from Rikers Island to courts around the city every day), and make it much easier for friends and family of inmates to visit those held in custody.
Details of the plan are outlined in the PowerPoint presentation at the link below. Additional information about the plan is available in the linked documents that follow, and will be updated periodically.
See PowerPoint Presentation
June 23, 2008. Commissioner Martin F. Horn wrote to City Council Member David Yassky explaining the cost advantages of new jail space in Brooklyn compared to the cost of adding jail capacity on Rikers Island. Commissioner Horn's letter included the fiscal analysis on which the cost comparison is based, and data on Brooklyn inmates in the city's jails and on approaches to replacing outdated capacity on Rikers Island.
Click here for Commissioner Horn's letter to City Council Member Yassky.
March 6, 2008. After nearly three years of working to accommodate community
concerns, Correction Commissioner Martin F. Horn announced that the Department of
Correction would begin work to reopen and expand the Brooklyn House of Detention.
The Brooklyn plan is part of a city-wide approach to reduce the city's jail capacity and
bring jails closer to the communities defendants live in and the courts in which they
appear.
In a letter to several elected Brooklyn officials and community organizations,
Commissioner Horn outlined the next steps, committed to continue his cooperation with community representatives, and promised to organize and work with a task force of representatives when an architect for the project was selected, and throughout the project. He noted at the time that the Department had already integrated several community recommendations into the architect's specifications for the project.
Click here for Commissioner Horn's March 6, 2008 letter and the list of those to whom it was sent.
April 30, 2008. Commissioner Horn responded to an "open letter" from City
Comptroller William Thompson, in which Mr. Thompson called for demolishing the
Brooklyn House of Detention and selling the property.
Click here for Commissioner Horn's letter to Mr. Thompson.
March 28, 2008. Request for proposals for architectural design services.
The NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) issued a two-stage request for proposals (RFP) for architectural and engineering design and services for the Brooklyn House of Detention project to reopen and expand the jail, including 30,000 square feet of retail space at street level along Atlantic Avenue.
This RFP process is for the selection of an architect to design the project. It is NOT a
design competition. No design will be rendered, proposed or accepted as part of this
RFP. That will be the assignment given to the firm which is finally chosen.
Click here to be linked to the city's Department of Design and Construction and its RFP.
[The RFP process should not be confused with the Request for Expressions of Interest
(RFEI) which was issued in April, 2007 by the NYC Economic Development Corporation to solicit proposals for an expanded jail project that might also include multiple or mixed uses of the parcel. This process was undertaken specifically in response to community requests that the jail be developed to integrate as well as possible with the nearby neighborhood. However, it was ultimately determined that no responses to the RFEI met the city's stated objectives of including an expanded and reopened
1,479-bed jail with other uses (beyond retail) such as residential or commercial.]
The Department of Design and Construction issued its RFP March 11, 2008, held a pre-
proposal briefing for interested architectural firms on March 28, and set an April 11
deadline for submissions in the first stage of its selection process. This first stage of the selection process called for prospective firms to submit information regarding their qualifications to perform the necessary work.
The DDC schedule called for establishing a "short list" of qualified firms two weeks after the initial submission deadline.
In Stage Two of the process, firms selected to continue in the process are to submit
"Technical Proposals" and "Subcontractor Utilization Plans." The deadline for submission of these documents and the schedule for commencement or completion of the design work by the selected architectural firm have not yet been established.
