CHILLING plans have been made for the world’s tallest prison where 1,000 prisoners will be stacked across a 40-floor tower.
Dubbed the “Jailscraper”, the high-rise slammer will be located on the grounds of the former Manhattan Detention Complex in lower Manhattan, New York City.
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Also known as The Tombs to locals, the municipal jail is set to be demolished to make way for the brand new 300ft structure.
The new jail is set to be a third as high as the Empire State Building and have a shadow that stretches more than five blocks – plunging the local area into darkness.
Yet it’s just another problem for local residents.
Those who live within close proximity of the current institution are already dealing with a fresh wave of issues as the demolition gets underway.
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Sometimes it shakes so much, I feel like the building is going to collapse
Local resident
Locals are being hit with copious amounts of dust, cracked walls and endless noise.
However, the construction of the new institution is only set to make things worse for residents.
Jan Lee, a co-founder of Neighbors United Below Canal, a nonprofit group representing local leaders and businesses, told The New York Times: “We are the dumping ground”.
Lee– whose family is the landlord for Hop Kee, the 55-year-old, late-night Cantonese restaurant at 21 Mott – believes many restaurants will not survive the construction of the jail.
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The Tomb will be fully torn down by 2025, according to contractors, and eventually replaced by the towering jail in the heart of one of Manhattan’s poorest areas.
It comes five years after council officials announced $8.3 billion (£6.5 billion) plans to build four new jails in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx to replace Rikers Island.
Currently New York City’s largest jail, it is infamously known for its surging violence and detainee deaths.
Campaigners have spent years fighting against the project, however, and successfully sued the city in 2020 – temporarily halting construction.
But an appellate court decision the following year allowed the project to go ahead.
Bulldozers and diggers have since swarmed the area, leaving locals in a state of distress.
Lin Cheng, 74, who lives in a high-floor flat, said: “Sometimes it shakes so much, I feel like the building is going to collapse.”
Chung Pak, a senior housing centre that includes a daycare and medical facilities, has been damaged during the Tomb’s demolition.
Deep cracks now run through its ground-floor walls.
Chefs and restaurant owners also joined local Chinatown residents to demand the city abandon its plans – saying it threatens to become a “death knell” for local businesses.
Bo Ky and Jaya 888 – two eateries near the construction site where the Manhattan Detention Complex is being demolished to make way for the new mega-jail — have already closed, the New York Post report.
Local residents also fear the new jail will lead to an increased police presence and that other towers would follow.
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Building bigger jails, and not smaller ones, defeats the purpose of battling crime, activists say.
A petition to “stop the mega jail” has been signed by more than 12,000 people.
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Source: Sun
