On October 15th, representatives from Kuma’s “Rebuilding Rikers Island” architectural design company visited Chinatown to discuss a new prison project with the residents. The central idea is to rebuild Rikers Island into a humane and modernized prison, while transforming the proposed site for community prisons in Chinatown and the Bronx into affordable housing. The community views this plan as the most comprehensive and in line with the trends of the civilized world.
Architectural company representative and designer, William Bialosky, refers to his Rebuilding Rikers Island plan as a “humane alternative.” He stated that New York City is at a crossroads, questioning whether to spend $16 billion on building four high-rise community prisons or to construct a ground-level rehabilitation area on Rikers Island.
Bialosky pointed out the severe lack of capacity in community prisons, accommodating only 4160 beds while the average prison population in 2024 was 6133. By utilizing the 413 acres of land on Rikers Island, a 4 million square feet area can be built, including 3 to 4-story facilities with a capacity of 4500 beds, which could save between $10 to $30 billion, meeting the city’s detention needs.
Having lived in Chinatown for 39 years, Bialosky has been vehemently against community prisons. He believes that constructing high-rise community prisons is not the solution to urban incarceration; instead, building low-rise structures in suburban areas with abundant sunlight and natural surroundings is the way forward.
The rebuilding plan also includes features such as “phased implementation,” “campus-style facilities,” “on-site courts,” “superior transportation and connectivity,” and “medical and rehabilitation functions.”
“If New York City and New York State can build a new airport on the challenging site adjacent to Rikers Island, then constructing a meticulously designed justice campus on the island is clearly within reach,” Bialosky remarked, emphasizing that the question is not whether we can afford this humane alternative but whether we can bear the consequences of not building a reimagined New York Restoration and Justice Center on Rikers Island.
Chen Huihua, Chairwoman of the New York United Association, as a community representative, stated that those advocating for the closure of Rikers Island prisons have labeled “community prisons” as a “community need” without asking who actually wants this prison.
“I don’t know who in Chinatown would want a prison to be built here, not a single person,” Chen Huihua said. She mentioned the original intention of building Rikers Island prison in the 1930s to address the issues present in local prisons, aiming to provide better services by consolidating different facilities.
Therefore, if the current serious issues such as drug abuse and weapon smuggling in Rikers Island prisons are not resolved and four community prisons are constructed, “you will face four problems,” she emphasized, stating that the current issue is to reform the existing broken system.
Yukin Shan, leader of the Democratic Chinatown District 65D, expressed that after years of resistance against community prisons, he has heard many proposals, and this one is the “most comprehensive.”
“I think the proposal they have put forward this time is a very comprehensive strategic plan on how to recover, how to reorganize, how to give prisoners a better chance at a new life, with a larger area, where they can get sunlight, have medical centers, mental health and psychological treatment centers, this is truly a judicial reform, rather than moving prisoners into the city.”
Yukin Shan mentioned that he recently visited several countries in Asia and discovered that major cities are relocating city prisons to remote suburbs. “This is a global trend, and it aligns with the desires of our Chinatown and Little Italy communities.”