8 JULY 1, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
A rendering of the parking garage and community space at the site of the future Kew Gardens jail. Courtesy of the mayor’s offi ce
Construction begins on Kew Gardens jail
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The city is moving ahead with its
controversial borough-based
prison in Kew Gardens.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
on Friday, June 25, that construction
is underway on the parking garage
and community space alongside the
new jail that will rise adjacent to Borough
Hall and the Queens Criminal
Courthouse.
The construction marks the fi rst
major activity in the borough-based
jails program, an $8.3 billion eff ort
to construct four new, smaller, more
humane jails in Queens, Manhattan,
Brooklyn and the Bronx, to replace the
jail complex on Rikers Island.
“Today we move one step closer to
our goal of a fairer and more equitable
jail system for all New Yorkers,” de
Blasio said. “Closing Rikers Island will
make our city stronger and more just,
and I’m proud to deliver a system that
better refl ects this city’s values.”
The new 105-foot structure will
house a 25,000-square-foot, two-level,
multipurpose community space, plus
more than 600 public parking spots.
The structure is being built on the
west side of the existing parking lot at
Union Turnpike between 126th Street
and 132nd Street.
The east side of the parking lot will
remain open during construction,
providing 140 parking spots to the
community until work is complete in
early 2023.
The adjacent Queens Detention
Complex will begin demolition during
the garage construction and then the
new Queens jail will be built spanning
the east side of the parking lot and the
former Queens Detention Complex site.
“This project is part of a once-in-many
generations opportunity to build
a smaller and more humane justice
system that includes four facilities
grounded in dignity and respect, offering
better connections to and space
for families, attorneys, courts, medical
and mental health care, education,
therapeutic programming and service
providers,” NYC Department of Design
and Construction Commissioner
Jaimie Torres-Springer said. “This is a
great milestone in the borough-based
jails program, and we continue to
seek and evaluate candidates for the
design-build teams that will create the
program’s other facilities.”
The 886-bed Queens jail will be designed
with a maximum height of 195
feet and will house female detainees in
a separate facility within the jail. The
borough-based jails plan was approved
by the City Council in October 2019.
“The beginning of major construction
for the new borough-based jails
program in Kew Gardens is exciting
news and something we have been
greatly anticipating since Mayor de
Blasio pledged to close the antiquated
facilities on Rikers Island,” Department
of Correction Commissioner Vincent
Schiraldi said. “It means we are one
step closer to having modern facilities
that are far better in every way than
what exists today. The borough-based
jails plan will create state-of-the-art,
fully air-conditioned buildings and
a more humane environment. It will
also help us achieve our goal of creating
the kind of environment any of us
would want if someone we loved was
incarcerated.”
The Kew Gardens jail was met with
strong opposition from the community
but it was approved following an extensive
and multi-step public review
process, including design workshops
with neighborhood leaders, civic associations
and community boards.
“The news about progress toward
dismantling the Queens Detention
Complex is a critical step towards
implementing advocates’ plans to fully
close Rikers Island by 2007 or sooner,”
said Brandon J. Holmes, co-director of
Freedom Agenda at The Urban Justice
Center. “Reaching this signifi cant milestone
ahead of Mayor de Blasio’s transition
out of offi ce will help secure the
permanent demolition of the 10 jails
on Rikers, long-term divestment from
mass incarceration, and a complete
transformation of our criminal legal
system and responses to violence. We
owe this to formerly incarcerated New
Yorkers who have built this movement
to shutter Rikers Island and improve
conditions of confi nement for anyone
who remains incarcerated.”
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