NYC Jails Will Have Rooftop Gardens And Patios, If One Group Gets Its Way

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The Atlantic Avenue jail will get a tree-lined roof-deck and a patio if one group of designers gets it way.

Justice In Design, a group of architects, urban planners and academics, have released a plan for a new network of “community-connected jails” they argue should replace Rikers Island, which the Mayor has pledged to close in the next decade.

The proposed network of smaller jails would be located near courthouses to allow for speedier due process, facilitate visitation from inmates’ lawyers, and ease in-jail violence the group argues is caused by isolation.

“Proximity to courts is essential in addressing court delays and ensuring a defendant’s right to a speedy trial,” the report argues.

“The isolated location, harsh environments, and challenging protocols make for spaces that are dehumanizing, unhealthy, and unsafe for many that come into contact with it.”

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Two criminal courthouses already have jails next door — Manhattan’s criminal court has the Metropolitan Correctional Center or “The Tombs” and Brooklyn’s criminal court abuts the Brooklyn Detention Center.

But Rikers Island inmates must ride through Queens to get to Bronx Criminal Court, Queensboro Correctional Facility have to travel across the borough to get to Queens Criminal Court, and in Staten Island, Arthur Kill Correctional Facility inmates must cross the stretch of the island to get to their borough’s criminal court.

The proposal — which notes that 75 percent of Rikers inmates have not yet been committed of a crime — also calls for the new jails to have more pleasant quarters that show “respect for human dignity.”

It’s not about luxury, it’s about equality, said participants of a workshop — one of many Justice In Design researchers conducted in communities near jails and with people who had once been incarcerated — that took place in downtown Brooklyn.

One person noted that Brooklyn Detention Center inmates look out their windows into the luxurious NU Hotel across Smith Street.

“A luxury hotel across the street has hammocks in its windows, but inside the jail is ugly,” said the unidentified participant. “That inequality is further punishment.”

“The building gives the impression of ‘bad people’ being inside,” said another.

Gothamist spoke with Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association spokesman Michael Skelly, who expressed strong disapproval for the plans.

"The pictures in that design presentation look like kids starting a startup company," Skelly told Gothamist.

Skelly complained that his organization had not been consulted, and as a result, the proposed jails would jeopardize the lives of guards and inmates.

"Wouldn't it be great if we had workshops and presentations and proposals and plans to address the issues that could really save lives as opposed to another fantasy novel?"

The report was commissioned by the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, which itself was formed at the request of City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to begin the process of shutting down Rikers Island.

Photos courtesy of the Van Alen Institute