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Q&A
Exploring alternative sites for the proposed Chinatown jail
1:00:41
·
4 min
Council Member Christopher Marte inquires about alternative sites for the proposed Chinatown jail, particularly focusing on the MCC facility. Jonathan Lippman explains the complexities of the site selection process and the challenges in finding viable alternatives.
- Lippman acknowledges the community's concerns and the commission's efforts to find alternatives
- He emphasizes the importance of investing in the community around the jail site to mitigate negative impacts
- Lippman suggests that well-designed jails don't necessarily hurt real estate values or communities
Christopher Marte
1:00:41
My question was more about the the thought process and the scope of work that went into this commission.
1:00:47
Sure.
1:00:48
One specifically complaint that I get in my district representing the Chinatown jail
Jonathan Lippman
1:00:53
is I know the complaints.
1:00:54
We've got them too.
Christopher Marte
1:00:56
It's the cost and the timeline.
1:00:58
And so my first question is, have you looked at alternative sites that could be purchased to renovate to minimize the population at the Chinatown site or construction at that site.
1:01:11
The one specifically is the m MCC, which is just around the corner here, sits vacant and is currently decommissioned.
Jonathan Lippman
1:01:19
You know, it's such a complicated the EULERP process is so complicated.
1:01:24
And we've looked at all the sites you're dealing with the different administrations.
1:01:28
Remember, we've dealt with two administrations on this thing.
1:01:31
First de Blasio, you know, and now Adams.
1:01:35
We have looked at alternative sites.
1:01:37
I mean, there's no easy answers for every and believe me, we listen to the Chinatown community.
1:01:45
We get it.
1:01:46
We have Randy Ang, who's one of my former colleagues in the court, Asian American who, you know, calls me every day to tell me about what the community is telling him.
1:01:59
And we've tried as hard as we can to figure out is there a realistic alternative that would not take another twenty years to find and build.
1:02:12
Because remember, we've gone through this I don't mean this terrible this amazing euler process which could drive any sane person crazy, you know, to try and get to the point where you approve something.
1:02:28
So so I think the issue is, and I'm very familiar with this problem.
1:02:33
Zach is even more familiar.
1:02:34
He gets more complaints than I do.
1:02:36
We've done everything within what we could do rationally to try and figure out an alternative, whether it be making it smaller, putting it in a different place, changing the whole configuration?
1:02:52
And I guess my answer to you is, and I understand that you represent that community and you get more complaints, many, many more than we do.
1:03:03
We we did our best with it interfacing with the council at the time, with the mayor at the time, with the present council, with the present mayor to make it make sense.
1:03:16
The only thing, and I think I indicated in my my remarks earlier, what we've tried to stress is if you get a wind up with a jail that doesn't have, you know, the majority or total support of the community.
1:03:34
Where you have a lot of uneasiness about it.
1:03:37
For god's sake, at the very least, invest in that community in and around that facility because we know from doing survey that jails don't hurt real estate values or communities just because they're jails.
1:03:58
If they're done right, if they're sensitive to the needs of the community, if we invest around them, I think we could do a lot to mitigate so much of the unhappiness about a particular site.
1:04:11
So I don't know the perfect answer.
1:04:14
I know in that particular community I mean, I grew up there.
1:04:19
I I I know that area.
1:04:21
I know that community.
1:04:23
I'm very sensitive to it.
1:04:25
I wish I had a better answer for you.
1:04:28
But certainly, invest in the community in that area and do everything we can to listen is the best answer I can give you.
1:04:39
And the investment is critical.