www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY March 3, 2019 10
BP’s State of the Borough
calls out Mott Haven jail plan
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Borough President Ruben
Diaz, Jr. addressed
many issues during his
State of the Borough
speech on Thursday, February
21.
One specifi c item,
which has been on the
mind of many Bronxites,
was Mayor de Blasio’s proposed
Mott Haven jail for
an NYPD tow pound at 320
Concord Avenue.
“We’re not accepting
this,” the borough president
said. “We will continue
to make a case that
Borough President Diaz spoke to the current state of the Bronx. Photo by Fernando Justiniano
Mott Haven is not the best
location for a jail,” Diaz
continued during his
speech saying that a new
jail belongs next to the
Bronx Hall of Justice on
East 161st Street.
“Criminal justice reform
experts say jails
should be located near
courthouses for a myriad
humane of reasons in the
interest of justice,” Diaz
said.
“We must continue
to fi ght crime humanely
and intelligently,” the
borough president added.
The borough president
also called the de
Blasio administration’s
priorities “entirely misguided,”
going on to question
how the city can
spend millions to erect
a Bronx jail but not allocate
proper funding for
schools within the borough.
Diaz also criticized a
lack of community input
from the city regarding
the jail’s plan.
Specifi cally towards
the Mott Haven community’s
plan for the land nowto
be used for the jail.
In attendance at the
State of the Borough was
Arline Parks, the CEO of
Diego Beekman Mutual
Housing, whom orchestrated
a plan to acquire
the NYPD tow pound in
efforts to convert the yard
into additional affordable
housing.
Diaz, Parks, and Congressman
Jose E. Serrano
had previously joined
forces to fi ght the jail,
forming a coalition called
‘Justice for the Bronx.’
“As Bronx Borough
President Diaz and Congressman
Serrano show
leadership and courage on
behalf of low-income people
of color, other elected
offi cials like Mayor de
Blasio, Councilwoman
Diana Ayala and Councilwoman
Vanessa Gibson
are betraying the residents
of Mott Haven and
the principles of social
justice,” Parks said after
the speech.
She went on to express
her own sentiment that
the jail belongs on East
161st Street, saying it
shouldn’t be “in the middle
of a residential community
that is already
struggling to clean up its
crime-ridden streets.”
While praising Diaz
and his efforts to eradicate
the Mott Haven jail plan,
Parks also “demands the
Mayor and the City Council
act to move the Bronx
jail site immediately.”
Other major topics
Diaz addressed during his
presentation concerned
the Bronx’s opioid epedemic,
the conversion of
the Sheridan Expressway
into a street-level, crossable
boulevard, the anticipated
YMCA for Edenwald,
along with cleaning
up NYCHA housing along
with much more.
(l-r) Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Assembly members Karines
Reyes and Marcos Crespo, District Attorney Darcel Clark and Congressman
Jose Serrano attended the borough event.
Photo by Fernando Justiniano
Barbara Gibson-La Grant met with Senator Jose Serrano (back, c)
and his father Congressman Jose Serrano prior to the address.
Photo by Fernando Justiniano
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