Demolition of the Manhattan Detention Center at 125 White street began early April shortly after the city received demolition permits as bulldozers and backhoes moved in to prepare the ground level spaces ahead of piecemeal demolition of the upper floors and Exterior artwork along had been removed and placed into storage.
The hotly contested borough based jail plan introduced by then mayor DeBlasio in 2018 aims to close the city’s jail complex at Rikers island by 2027 and build 4 modern jails in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens. The plan was met with immediate opposition which is ongoing. Proponents of the plan insist Rikers is beyond fixing and must close however with a current population of roughly 5900 detainees on Rikers whereas the new 4 borough jails would have a total capacity of 3300 would delay closing Rikers if the number of detainees could not be reduced through early release programs.
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In an election year stunt during a February 17 press conference at the Chinese Consolidated benevolent association Council member Christopher Marte announced his introduction of a resolution calling on Mayor Adams to halt demolition of the 125 white street Tombs and and consider an “Adaptive re-use” plan for the facility. When asked the effectiveness of a resolution which is an opinion he insisted it was a legally binding document which the mayor must act upon.
Marte who is a member of the progressive caucus.has called for closing Rikers, decarcerating prisons and ending mass incarceration has been criticized as being soft on crime and silent on hate crimes committed within Dist 1 which includes Chinatown, The Lower East Side, FiDi, Battery Park City, Tribeca , Little Italy and Soho had come under fire from the Chinese and Asian communities for not condemning hate speech at a city council hearing directed at Chinese and an incident in front of his office where 2 members of the “Proud boys” screamed anti-Chinese remarks and harassed passersby.