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

Inside The Reopened Brooklyn House Of Detention (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.

"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:

Brooklyn House Of Detention

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