Photo Courtesy of welcometochinatown.com
Chinatown needs our help. In 2017, New York City’s former Mayor Bill De Blasio approved an 8.3 billion dollar program supporting mass incarceration in the New York City boroughs. This includes the construction of the world’s tallest jail, which is to be built right in the heart of Chinatown. Already disrupted by the pandemic, ongoing construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, the closing of Park Row, and even the continuing effects of the September 11th, 2001 attacks, NYC’s Chinatown cannot afford another hit.
The completion of this massive jail would take the densely populated area of Center Street and Baxter Street: a space which currently consists of senior housing, small businesses, and green spaces (which are hard to come by in New York), and destroy it’s character, history, and most importantly its commercial value. The impact this project would have on the local community would be devastating. Residents and fellow New Yorkers have gathered in outrage over the potentially destructive plans, and many are calling for a reallocation of funds. With a budget of $8,300,000,000, current New York City Mayor Eric Adams could delegate the money into several public service sectors. Citizens urge for investment in mental health services, education, health care, and other public programs that are all too often overlooked. These plans, though jarring to read about, are nothing new.
Mass incarceration has been a tool used by both private corporations and the government to control voter populations, exploit free labor, and strip minorities of their constitutional rights. The prison industrial complex does not stop in New York City either, it spans its way across the entirety of the United States, and has only expanded exponentially in recent years. Almost ¾ of states have more prisons than degree-granting colleges. When it is easier to become a convict than a graduate, minority youths (in particular black men) inherently subscribe to an endless cycle of poverty or prison, or both; the school to prison pipeline is evident in any inner city district you look at. So with such an immense, systemic problem on our hands, what can we as regular people do to help? Well, for starters we can contact Mayor Adams and submit a pre-typed message urging for the cancellation of construction. You can call at 212-NEW-YORK, or email at https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/mayor-contact.page with this message.
Mayor Adams,
The potential $8.3 billion borough based jail program will be detrimental to New Yorkers, current and future. It will cause irreversible harm and using public funds to further mass incarceration is not the answer. We ask that you halt the construction of the borough based jail, especially Chinatown’s mega jail and consider alternative options. Constructing the tallest jail in the world will change the fabric of the community, diminish quality of life for residents, and cause harm for an already marginalized community. I urge you to stop the demolition of Manhattan Detention Center and construction of the mega jail in Chinatown.
- Sincerely, *insert your name*
Though we may not be able to see this problem in our community, we cannot stand by idly. We have resources to help. I urge you to use them.
