BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2019 17
Diaz sends 2nd scathing letter
to de Blasio on MH jail site
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr. continues
to demonstrate his
adamant opposition
to the plan to build a
26-story jail in Mott Haven.
Diaz called out the city
for what he described as
“its lack of any real commitment
to community
input in its ongoing proposal
to build a new jail
in the Bronx,” in a letter
to Mayor de Blasio on
Thursday, April 18.
This is the second
letter of desention the
borough president has
penned about the jail to
the mayor in six weeks.
Previosuly, he and
fellow borough president
Melinda Katz of Queens
sent the mayor a scathing
letter on his handling
of the planned phase out
of Rikers Island on Friday,
March 8.
This time, Diaz took
issue with the administration’s
formation of a
Design Advisory Group,
that is tasked with developing
a plan for the current,
NYPD-utilized tow
pound at 320 Concord
Avenue.
That proposed jail
site, along with sites in
Manhattan, Queens and
Brooklyn, is undergoing
a Uniform Land Use Review
Procedure, despite
Diaz’ vehement opposition,
which he, along
with dozens of protesters,
expressed to the mayor
on the steps of City Hall
on Sunday, March 26.
“The timing of this
announcement makes it
crystal clear that your
administration has no
desire to even pretend
to take community input
into account during
the siting process, and in
fact views the outcome of
the ULURP as a fait accompli,”
Diaz wrote.
“Rikers Island must
be closed,” Diaz continued.
“However, your administration
should not
abandon the principles
of criminal justice reform
for reasons of political
expediency,” he
stated.
The borough president
added that the new
jail is being built in the
A map that Diaz sent to City Hall indicating the transit diffi
culties associated with the Mott Haven jail.
Photo courtesy of Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.’s Offi ce
wrong location, and
should be moved to a site
adjacent to the Bronx
Hall of Justice.
Along with the letter
he sent the city visual
maps that outlined the
distance from 320 Concord
Avenue to the Hall
of Justice on East 161st
Street while pointing out
the limited transit options
in the proximity to
the Mott Haven spot.
The map highlighted
the line of civic centers
on East 161st Street,
from family courts, to
the DA’s Offi ce in addition
to others.
Diaz and many other
Bronx elected offi cials
support moving the jail
to a property adjacent to
the Hall of Justice. A report
by Judge Jonathan
Lippman’s Commission,
indicated that the best
locations for jail facili-
ties are next to or near
civic centers.
“Mott Haven is the
wrong location for a new
jail in the Bronx. An obviously
better location
exists for this jail,” Diaz
said. “If you truly value
community input on this
issue you would be wise
to recognize this fact,”
the borough president
continued on.
Community Board 1,
which would be the unlucky
recipient of the
jail focused its Thursday,
April 25 meeting
around the ongoing debacle.
Arline Parks, the
CEO of Diego Beekman
Mutual Housing, called
out the city for disrupting
her group’s own plan
for the grounds of 320
Concord Avenue, at the
meeting.
D i e g o -B e e kma n
wanted to acquire the
tow pound from NYC to
construct a large-scale
affordable housing complex
that would split the
superblock into two sections,
providing community
amenities such as a
supermarket.
Parks and Diego-
Beekman presented that
plan to CB1 last year on
Thursday, May 31, which
the board overwhelmly
supported.
Mott Haven
is the wrong
location for a
new jail in the
Bronx.
Ruben Diaz, Jr.
Borough President