Kew Gardens Community Board To Vote On Plan For New Jail

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — The Kew Gardens community board will vote Tuesday night on the city's controversial proposal to build a new jail in the neighborhood.

Queens Community Board 9 will vote on whether the City Planning Commission should approve or reject the city's master plan for a system of four new "borough-based" jails, each of which requires a special zoning permit.

While the May 14 vote is not binding, the City Planning Commission must explain any decision that goes against the community board's recommendation.

The community board has been vocally opposed to the plan and previously voted unanimously against the proposal entering the city's land-use review process, known as ULURP — even amid mounting pressure to vote yes.

At a heated public hearing in April, many Queens residents and criminal justice advocates urged the community board to vote yes but with conditions, like a smaller jail.

Mayor Bill de Blasio met privately with Kew Gardens and Briarwood residents in March to assuage their concerns about the jail, promising he would compensate the community for the jail's incursion, according to a recording obtained by Patch.

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, who has said publicly that the mayor should restart the process of developing the new jails, will also issue an advisory recommendation to the City Planning Commission.

De Blasio last year announced plans to build four new jails — one in every borough except Staten Island. The new jails would replace detention facilities on Rikers Island, de Blasio says, and reduce the city's jail population from 9,400 to 5,000 by the year 2026.

"Closing Rikers Island and opening community based facilities is not only beneficial for New York City's corrections officers and incarcerated population, but also beneficial for the Kew Gardens community," Koslowitz said at the time.

"The new facility in Kew Gardens will bring significant economic development, and provide hundreds of new parking spaces for the community," she added.