Brooklyn House Of Detention To Reopen: Warden Gives Tour Of Controversial Jail (PHOTOS)

After years of debate, a lawsuit, and another lawsuit, the Brooklyn House of Detention is slated to reopen next week.

The facility closed in 2003 due to a surplus of space on Rikers Island, but now that crumbling buildings on Rikers are scheduled for demolition, the Department of Corrections is giving the 759-bed, Boerum Hill jail another go-- to the chagrin of some neighbors.

From The New York Times:

"The issue isn't that there are prisoners; it's that they will have visitors -- and all of a sudden that could bring more foot traffic and crime," said Lisa Goldfarb, who lives in one of the modern State Street town houses with her husband, Jack DeHovitz. She said their four children walked by the jail to get to school every day.

"I never would have agreed to buy this house for all this money had I known it was opening," she added, saying that real estate agents told her the jail was going to be converted into condominiums. The couple paid $3.4 million for the town house in July. "We took a gamble and lost on this neighborhood."

The Associated Press tagged along on Nin's tour and got a look at the new digs for city criminals:

Comments

[haydengr]

10:04 PM on 02/07/2012

Who knows? maybe this will help the city seperate violent offenders from those who are less of a security risk. Not to say an incarcerated banker, sexual offender, or schemer doesnt deserve a good ol' shanking.... but I as i'm sure many of us have known drug dealers. The sentences given to them are completely unjust especially for pot dealers. Whether its ounces or ton's, their product isn't killing anyone. As seen on tv you would know that these guys most having been non-violent are FORCED by the gangs and other violent offenders to BECOME violent just to stay alive! This is a fraction of a tip of the ice berg when it comes to the prison. Even non-violent dealers of potentially fatal drugs should never have to succomb to the will of the hardened lifers. (NO I have NEVER been to jail lol im just very infatuated with the prison system and honestly wish I could do something to help these particular prisoners)

[NYCKitty]

09:40 AM on 02/08/2012

Pot is a very weak drug but it's still illegal, still an arrestable offense, still against the law, still punishable with jail time. The police, DA and courts aren't here to rewrite the laws, they are here to enforce the laws.

And people have been killed over pot. Someone was killed last year in the Bronx because he owed someone money on a pot deal. A child was killed some years ago in Brooklyn because two pot dealers had some beef. It does happen. To say that pot dealing is a non-violent crime is moronic.

And there's no such thing as a "non-violent" drug dealer. Look in any neighborhood where drugs have taken over and there's violence. I'm guessing you don't live on one of those areas or you chose to ignore it.

I grew up in the Inwood section of Manhattan. We had dealers on 211th and Vermilyea. They decided to have a party one night, had some beef w/the dealers from Post and Dyckman, next thing a former classmate of mine, NOT a drug dealer but who was at the party, was shot and killed.

[omeo2013]

09:55 AM on 02/27/2012

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just because there IS sometimes violence in connection with the pot market doesn't mean it's an inherently violent trade. I respect that you've encountered your share of violent pot dealers, but that simply isn't how most pot dealing goes down. Maybe people routinely kill each other over weed in a city like New York, but where I come from, the vast majority of pot deals are quiet and uneventful; no one gets hurt. Further more, I submit that most of the pot dealings in New York are quiet and uneventful. You WOULDN'T hear about the majority of pot deals because most of them go smoothly, WITHOUT anyone geting shot. The only ones you hear about are the ones that go wrong, but those anecdotes represent a minority of pot deals. You're talking about Manhattan; not Mexico.

[brutalefrank]

02:17 PM on 02/07/2012

The reopening of the jail has been in the news for a number of years, and should come as no surprise to anyone. If you take the word of a Realtor trying to sell you a multimillion dollar home without doing your own research, then you are the fool.

At least the bail bond store fronts have disappeared, well for now.

[jl4141]

10:21 AM on 02/07/2012

Why would anyone be opposed to this place? I highly recommend the Rooty Tooty Fresh & Fruity!

Oh, wait, that's the International House of Pancakes ... this is the Brooklyn House of Detention. My bad -- never mind.

[NYCKitty]

02:55 PM on 02/07/2012

LMAO...you mean GHOP...Ghetto House Of Pancakes.

[NYCKitty]

09:21 AM on 02/07/2012

LMAO...you have to laugh at these yuppie idiots. $3.4 million on a townhouse in Brooklyn??? Are these people HIGH???

Good. I'm glad it's opening. These are the same liberal morons always crying for the poor, impoverished, incarcerated...blah blah blah. Maybe Ms. Goldfarb would be happier if this jail opened in Brownsville or Bushwick, instead of her yuppie crap hole.

That's the hypocrisy I cannot stand with these people. They move into lower/middle class areas, slap up million dollar homes that only people like themselves can live in, totally revamp neighborhoods to keep out certain people and then cry when a jail or shelter opens up.

[Robert J. Feldman]

05:37 AM on 02/07/2012

This renovated jail will be great for the local businesses.
When we graduated Brooklyn Law School in 1980 the whole neighborhood was just gentrifying.
We are truly sorry Lisa and Jack; but this will teach them not to trust real estate brokers.
Kudos to Warden Nin and company for renovating what appears to be a modern correctional facility.

[94613]

03:18 AM on 02/07/2012

Ship them to Plum Island in LI Sound. A pox on their houses.