Chinatown Seniors Sue City to Stop 23-Hour Workdays on Manhattan “Megajail”
Chinatown seniors and community leaders in New York have filed an Article 78 lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court seeking to stop the city's plan for near-round-the-clock construction of the long-delayed Manhattan borough-based jail — the so-called “megajail” that is part of the plan to close Rikers Island — according to a community release issued via PR Newswire on October 23 and reporting by the New York Post.
Under the city's updated construction plan, presented to the community on October 6 and in effect since October 13, work at the 16-story jail site on Centre Street, next to Manhattan Criminal Court, runs from 6 a.m. to midnight daily, including pile drilling from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, with deliveries of large equipment and materials continuing until 5:30 a.m.; Saturday crews work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The release says the combined activity totals about 23 hours a day and will last six years.
The site stands immediately next to a senior residence, across the street from small businesses, tenement apartments, a daycare facility, medical offices and a community cinema. The suit argues that the environmental review conducted when the project was publicly approved outlined only normal construction hours — 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, occasionally until 6 p.m. — and that the new plan violates environmental review laws and should trigger a new review. The plaintiffs say the new schedule more than doubles the construction intensity that was studied, over more than twice the construction period.
“Our culture believes in honoring our elders. Subjecting them to around-the-clock drilling and construction through their final years is inhumane and cruel,” said Victoria Lee, founder and CEO of Welcome to Chinatown, the community nonprofit behind the suit. “We believe in closing Rikers, but its closure should not cause more marginalized communities to suffer.” City Councilmember Chris Marte said City Hall has “abandoned” Chinatown.
The jail is part of the $16 billion plan to replace Rikers Island with borough-based jails. City officials said the extended hours will shave about two years off the construction timeline, with completion expected by 2032 — five years after the 2027 deadline the City Council set in 2019 for closing Rikers. Mayoral spokesperson Sam Raskin said the city “will respond to these claims in court” and that the administration is committed to meeting its moral and legal obligations to close the Rikers jails. According to the city, loud work such as excavation, drilling and concrete placement runs from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, with the remaining hours reserved for preparation work, and independent monitoring for vibration, dust and noise, along with mufflers and sound blankets, is in place at the site.
Veteran architect William Bialosky has warned that the years of dewatering needed to build on the site, which sits atop the former Collect Pond, risk destabilizing the foundations of surrounding historic buildings. At a town hall hosted by Welcome to Chinatown and Neighbors United Below Canal, NYU researchers presented data showing elevated air pollution around the site. Welcome to Chinatown has launched a GoFundMe campaign to fund the legal fight.
Source: GSM · America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：纽约曼哈顿华埠街景（资料图）。照片：Derek Jensen，公有领域，取自 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: A street in Manhattan's Chinatown (file photo). Photo: Derek Jensen, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
