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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JUNE 23, 2019
CB2 rejects borough jails plan
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
They’re giving it another
go.
Community Board 2 put
forward a slate of changes
they would like to see in
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s borough
jails plan while rejecting
his overall project
at a June 12 meeting.
The Downtown board
members overwhelmingly
passed a largely symbolic
motion at their monthly
general meeting not to approve
Hizzoner’s request to
raze Boerum Hill’s House
of Detention and rebuild
a larger jail in its stead as
part of his goal to close the
Rikers Island jail complex
by 2027 — but nevertheless
attached a laundry list of
stipulations because the
city’s plan does not go far
enough, according to one
civic honcho.
“The current plan that
the city has given us is not
suffi cient and it should
be really reconsidered for
what we feel are the future
needs,” said Carlton Gordon,
the head of the board’s
land use committee which
devised the demands.
The committee asked
for adjustments similar
those the civic group previously
included in a motion
to approve the city proposal,
which the full board
narrowly rejected at its
heated May 8 general meeting
that was frequently interrupted
by protesters opposing
the construction of
any new jails.
At the comparatively
quiet gathering on Wednesday,
the group once again
demanded the city cut the
proposed new Atlantic Avenue
facility’s size in half
and reduce its capacity
from 1,437 to 875 beds, by
taking into account recent
and future criminal justice
reforms in Albany, moving
some incarcerated individuals
to a new and separate
location for mental health
and substance misuse
treatment, and by building
a jail on Staten Island
— the only borough exempt
from de Blasio’s scheme.
Offi cials with the city’s
Department of Correction
previously said that
there weren’t enough jailed
Staten Islanders to justify
building a separate facility
there.
The land use committee
fl eshed out its original
proposal demanding the
city expand alternative
sentencing programs like
the Red Hook Community
Justice Center, better train
corrections offi cers, improve
conditions at Rikers
Island until its closure, and
funnel some of the funds
for the project toward affordable
housing, education,
and public programs
in the community.
The board missed its
offi cial — but purely advisory
— chance to vote on
the jail, as per the city’s
Uniform Land Use Review
Process for the new build,
when it failed to pass that
motion at last month’s general
meeting.
Chairman Lenny Singletary
told the board that
he tapped the land use committee
to come up with another
recommendation after
a conversation with a
rep from Borough President
Eric Adams’ offi ce.
The Beep indicated at his
public hearing on the jails
last week that he wanted to
hear from the board before
he plans makes his also
purely advisory recommendation
on the lockup
on July 3.
One board member
questioned the effectiveness
of making these demands
while at the same
time rejecting the city’s
proposal.
“If you are invited to the
party and you don’t have a
ticket to get into Coney Island,
you don’t get on any of
the rides. So you’re standing
outside saying no we’re
not going in, for whatever
reason, and now we’re talking
about all the rides inside
Coney Island,” said
John Dew. “If you’re voting
no, what you’re going to
say underneath is going to
have less value.”
LATE RELEASE: Community Board 2 passed a largely symbolic
motion to reject the mayor’s borough jail plan while attaching
a host of recommendations on how the city should change its
project at its monthly general meeting on June 12.
Photo by Kevin Duggan