Renovated Jackson Sq. Park reopens
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
One of New York City’s
most historic parks
has now offi cially
entered the modern era.
Greenwich Village’s
Jackson Square Park is
back open after a $1.9
million renovation
job. Offi cials held a
ribbon-cutting for the
small park — which
is bounded by Horatio
St. and Greenwich
and Eighth Aves. — on
Tues., April 2.
“This neighborhood
park is a gem in the Greenwich
Village Historic District
and we are delighted that we
were able to maintain the spirit of
its original design while adding new
features during this reconstruction —
truly making one of the city’s oldest
parks new again,” said Parks Commissioner
Mitchell Silver.
Some of the renovations done to
Jackson Square Park restored two
iconic features — its cast-iron urns and
its mid-19th century replica fountain.
Much of the work was to make the park
A.D.A compliant and more environmentally
COURTESY BRAD HOYLMAN’S OFFICE
At the ribbon-cutting for Jackson
Square Park, from left, state
Senator Brad Hoylman; Harlan
Bratcher, president of
the Jackson Square Alliance;
Council Speaker
Corey Johnson; Parks
Commissioner Mitchell
Silver; Deputy
Borough President
Matthew Washington,
and Bill Castro,
Manhattan borough
Parks commissioner.
sustainable.
The small triangle now features
“permeable paving,” which
allows rainwater to be absorbed by
the earth underneath. Energy-effi cient
LED light bulbs will now illuminate
the park at night. To help make the
space more enjoyable for New Yorkers
who use wheelchairs, the park now
has “barrier-free surfaces.” Also new
is companion seating, which means
the park’s benches now have space for
wheelchair users.
“The newly reconstructed Jackson
Square Park is an excellent addition to
the Greenwich Village Historic District
that will be enjoyed by generations of
New Yorkers to come — my family included,”
said state Senator Brad Hoylman.
The senator was joined by City
Council Speaker Corey Johnson;
Deputy Manhattan Borough President
Matthew Washington; a representative
from Assemblymember Deborah
Glick’s Offi ce; Harlan Bratcher, president
of the Jackson Square Alliance;
and Community Board 2 Chairperson
Charter Booth.
According to a press release from the
New York City Department of Parks
and Recreation, funding for the renovations
was made possible by former
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
($800,000), Mayor Bill de Blasio
($740,000) and current Speaker Johnson
($360,000), who, as Quinn did before
him, represents Council District 3,
which contains the park.
New jail lower, but still 3 times larger
BY GABE HERMAN
Mayor de Blasio’s plan for new
borough-based jails to replace
Rikers Island recently
moved through more steps in the review
and approval process.
Administration offi cials presented
a draft environmental impact statement,
or D.E.I.S., on March 22, which
showed that the four new jails would
be slightly smaller than previously expected.
Specifi cally, the height of the
jails, one in each borough except for
Staten Island, would be 30 to 45 feet
shorter.
Under the latest plan, the Manhattan
jail in Lower Manhattan at
124-125 White St., between Centre
and Baxter Sts., currently the site of
the Manhattan Detention Complex,
would be 45 feet shorter than previous
plans but still top out at 450 feet,
the tallest of the four proposed new
facilities.
The current Manhattan complex
includes the nine-story North Tower
and the 14-story South Tower, with
435,000 square feet over all and 898
beds. The new jail on the site would
be nearly three times larger, at 1.2
million square feet, with 36 percent
more beds, at 1,400 beds.
The four jails would also refl ect a
shrinking city prison population in
recent years, according to offi cials at
A rendering of how large the new jail is planned to be. The dotted red
line shows the size of the “envelope” that the building could occupy.
the March 22 press conference on the
release of the D.E.I.S. The city currently
has 11 jails, including eight on
Rikers Island, with the capacity to
house 11,000 total people.
Under the new plan, there would be
a total of four jails in the city, holding
a total of roughly 5,000 people.
Three of the four new jails, all except
COURTESY MAYOR’S OFFICE
the one in the Bronx, would be developed
on the site of current jails.
“We’re intensely focused right now
on safely reducing our jail population
while reducing crime,” said Elizabeth
Glazer, director of the Mayor’s Offi ce
of Criminal Justice, at the press conference.
“This is a major step forward for
the city in our progress in closing
Rikers and building borough-based
jails,” Glazer said of the D.E.I.S.
Three days later, on March 25, the
City Planning Commission certifi ed
the jails plan, triggering the start of
the the Uniform Land Use Review
Procedure, or ULURP, which will include
the plan going to area community
boards for an advisory review. If
the Planning Commission eventually
approves the scheme after that as part
of ULURP, it would then go on to the
City Council, where the plan would
be voted on.
Glazer said that Rikers is not up
to modern standards, and that the
new jails would feature many improvements.
Among these are better
facilities for education and medical
services, and closeness to residential
neighborhoods, making it easier for
family members to visit and allowing
court cases to proceed more quickly.
The new Manhattan jail would connect
to the Manhattan Criminal
Court, at 100 Centre St.
“We view this as a moral imperative,”
Glazer said of closing Rikers
Island.
Under the city’s plan and timetable,
construction of the new jails would
start in 2021 and be completed in
2027.
8 April 11, 2019 TVG Schneps Media