Bronx Community Speaks Out Against $500 Million Jail

NEW YORK—A new jail for the Bronx could cost the city over $500 million. That is, unless local residents have something to do with it.

Members of the South Bronx coalition, Community in Unity (CIU), gathered on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday to give Mayor Bloomberg’s plan a piece of their mind. Their message: the last thing one of the poorest congressional districts in the United States needs is another jail.

Rafael Mutis, a program coordinator with Justice for Communities said that the money would be better spent elsewhere. “There’s a lot that needs to be done, especially when the economy is falling apart. To spend $500 million on a jail just doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

“Basically what Bloomberg is saying is that it’s the only thing that our community deserves as far as development,” said Mutis. “There are schools that don’t even have gyms or cafeterias. We don’t even have community centers in our communities.”

Bronx Community Protests New $500 Million Jail

A call from the South Bronx community is that the $500 million should go towards helping the community and to solve the problem at its root. “He [should] spend that money on schools, affordable housing, and to provide living wage jobs because that’s what our community needs. Not another jail,” said Mutis.

Previously, a jail was to be constructed in the Oaks Point section of the South Bronx, but the plan was withdrawn by the city. Mayor Bloomberg and Department of Correction Commissioner Martin Horn are now proposing that the jail be constructed near the Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point.

According to a 2008 report released by Horn on why the new Bronx jail is necessary, between 1987 and 1990, “the inmate population rose from about where it is now to over 20,000.” The Hunts Point jail would provide 17,700 beds; enough room for approximately 16,500 inmates. The report says that without the new Bronx jail, there would be insufficient room to accommodate a speculated peak in inmates due to the current overcrowding of existing jails.

The document also highlights that Bronx residents make up 22 percent of the inmates who are admitted to New York’s jails yet the Bronx only provides enough capacity for 4 percent of those in custody. The jail would also make it easier for families to visit loved ones who are incarcerated, as there would be less of a commute.

In regards to the 1987 to 1990 increase of inmates, a CUI document questions its accuracy, pointing out that the Bronx has seen a 23 percent decrease in crime over the past 5 years.

The effectiveness of the prison system has also been a concern for community members. Freeman, from the dialog committee of the Association for Inmates Rights, said that after serving 20 years in prison he had developed numerous psychological disorders such as depression, bi-polar disorder, and personality disorders. “It didn’t do anything for me. Actually, it made me more angry,” said Freeman.

“Because you’re in a prison around a bunch of people who don’t want to talk. Then you have correction officers who abuse inmates, who are constantly putting you down and searching you,” he said. “If you have $500 million that you’re sitting on and you have issues with mortgage and housing, why not put that money where it should be, rather than putting it in a jail that’s not going to help anybody?”

Rights for Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disability representative, Nafis Rashed added that the prison system often has a reverse effect from what is intended. “Sometimes it turns someone’s mind into something that it’s not,” he said.

“The prison system is mixed up and confused,” said Rashed. “It’s just something we need to change.”