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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Judy Lei, Community Engagement Manager at Immigrant Social Services
5:50:37
ยท
102 sec
Judy Lei from Immigrant Social Services testifies about the impact of jail construction on seniors living in Chong Park, adjacent to the old Manhattan detention center. She urges the committee to abandon plans for a mega jail and instead focus on building housing for those in need.
- Lei describes the fear, anxiety, and health concerns of seniors due to ongoing demolition and construction work.
- She emphasizes that the seniors feel overlooked and neglected, and deserve a safe community and peace.
- The testimony highlights the tension between the city's plans for new jail facilities and the well-being of existing communities, particularly vulnerable populations like seniors.
Judy Lei
5:50:37
Good afternoon, councilwoman, and thank you for letting me testify today.
5:50:41
My name is Judy Lei, and I work with the Immigrant Social Services as their community engagement manager.
5:50:47
We provide after school programs for first and second generation working class immigrant families in the Lower East Side and Chinatown.
5:50:55
We also host events and programming for seniors living at Chong Park.
5:50:59
And Chong Park is the site right next to the old Manhattan detention center.
5:51:07
And as Mei Ling described earlier, their lives have been affected greatly for the past couple years.
5:51:15
So I've been working at ISS for almost a year, and one of my first assignment was to translate for the New York Times reporter who came after the demolition that caused the cracked wall inside the seniors building.
5:51:31
And this was almost exactly a year ago.
5:51:33
When we interviewed the seniors about how they felt about what happened, they shared that they feel overlooked and they feel neglected.
5:51:42
They constantly expressed their fear, anxiety, and concern for their aging health due to the ongoing noise and vibration caused by the demolition work.
5:51:52
And now that it's all done, they're afraid of what's to come when we continue to build a mega jail next to their home.
5:52:00
They don't deserve a mega jail in their backyard.
5:52:03
They deserve a safe community where they can live out the rest of their lives.
5:52:07
They deserve peace.
5:52:09
We urge the committee to refocus their efforts, discard the idea of building a mega jail, and build housing for those in need instead.
5:52:18
Thank you.