Chinatown residents sue New York City to halt 18-hour jail construction days, seek new environmental review
NEW YORK, New York — Residents and businesses in Manhattan's Chinatown, in New York County, New York, sued the city in state supreme court this week to halt the extended construction schedule at the downtown jail site that began October 12 and to compel a new environmental review. The 16-story jail on Centre Street, next to the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, is now being built 18 hours a day on weekdays and eight hours on weekends.
The plaintiffs say the extended hours more than double the construction intensity assumed in the earlier environmental review, and that seniors are bearing the brunt: overnight lighting, excavation noise, idling machinery and dust. Vic Lee, founder of the community group Welcome to Chinatown, called the treatment of elders — the root of the community — "inhumane and cruel," and said a nearby senior center is under added strain.
The jail is part of the city's $16 billion plan to close Rikers Island and build a jail in each borough. The city says the longer hours will shave two years off the schedule, targeting completion in 2032. Council Member Chris Marte accused the city of abandoning Chinatown. City spokesperson Sam Raskin said the site already has independent vibration, dust and noise monitoring and sound-dampening measures, and that the city will respond to the claims in court.
The plaintiffs' October 23 announcement added detail on the schedule: the site is at 124–125 White Street (the former Manhattan Detention Complex site), beside Manhattan Criminal Court, planned as a 16-story facility with 1,040 beds. Under the City's new plan presented to the community on October 6, weekday work runs from 6 a.m. to midnight, including pile drilling from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., with large equipment and materials deliveries until 5:30 a.m., and Saturday work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; together with the overnight deliveries, the plaintiffs say, that amounts to 23 hours of round-the-clock activity, and the new plan took effect on October 13. The project's environmental review, they note, outlined only normal construction hours of 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with occasional work until 6 p.m. on weekdays. The plaintiffs include the community groups Welcome to Chinatown and Neighbors United Below Canal and residents near the site, including occupants of senior housing; the petition says the extended schedule has already produced a flood of 311 noise complaints and traffic jams. No judge has ruled on the petition, whose contents are the plaintiffs' allegations. (GSM, supplemented from the plaintiffs' announcement and the New York Post, October 22)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 曼哈顿华埠勿街街景。图片：Frank Schulenburg，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Mott Street in Manhattan's Chinatown. Photo: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
