By Stephen Witt (Special from Our Time Press)
A move to make Brownsville into a one-stop shop for the prison industrial complex has the local City Councilwoman roiling.
City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy said she found out that the de Blasio Administration wanted to put a criminal court for adults at 444 Thomas Boyland Street. The building already houses a probation center and the 73rd Police Precinct and a youth detention center are just around the block.
“Putting the court in the building is sending the wrong message to the next generation of youth. In one square block you have one-stop shopping for criminal services. You can get tried, convicted, jailed and put on probation and never leave the block,” said Mealy.
Mealy said she put a stop to the project in committee two weeks by garnering a majority of votes, but she remains concerned.
The city’s plan was to use three floors of the seven-story city-owned building which is zoned for residential use. Mealy said she’s like to see the upper floors become between 70-120 affordable housing units depending on the build out.
“They (the city) did not know to this day what to do with third floor so why should I let them have an underutilized building especially when housing space is so desperately needed,” said Mealy. “Our seniors need housing. Our veterans need housing. We can put in education services, a youth center or a job training facility – anything else. Our community deserves better and our youth deserves better.
Mealy said she understands the district has one of the city’s highest crime rates and is open at looking to place a criminal court somewhere else in the district, but 444 Boyland Street is not the spot as it’s near the Pitkin Avenue commercial strip.
“Here it is we’re trying to build up Brownsville and the Pitkin Avenue BID (Business Improvement District) is asking for more police because it’s getting kind of bad. So can we build a any-age criminal court where people facing felonies are coming to Brownsville for criminal services instead of Downtown Brooklyn,” said Mealy.
Mealy said moving a criminal court might just be the start of a movement to bring the entire criminal court system from Downtown Brooklyn to Brownsville.
The current Brooklyn House of Detention is located on Atlantic Avenue and Smith Street in a neighborhood which was once desolate but now is considered prime real estate. Residents in that neighborhood have been trying for years to close the jail.
The mayor’s press office is preparing a response, in which time this story will be updated.
