chapotraphouse

Spoiler: racism is involved

NYT: Anger in Chinatown Over a Huge Jail Project: the demolition of a Manhattan jail complex to make way for a bigger one has damaged a neighboring building and raised concerns about years of dust and disruption.

Chinatown has been a repository for unpopular civic projects since at least the 19th century, when the original jail complex was built there. ... “The city has this conflict between promoting Chinatown as this important, authentic place, but at the same time doing everything it can to make it as hard as possible for local businesses,” she said. “We are the dumping ground."

Local residents and businesses say they’re suffering through its prelude: a noisy, dusty and earthshaking demolition to lay the groundwork for the jail, in a neighborhood still reeling from the pandemic. ... Since demolition began last spring, large cracks have formed along the wall of a neighboring senior center, where residents shut their windows to block out dust. Longtime businesses have warned that they may have to close because of reduced foot traffic or costly renovations. A pediatric health center has already moved, citing constant noise and ceiling leaks.

An appellate court decision allowed the project to proceed, and reaffirmed, for some, that Chinatown would once again shoulder the burden of a disruptive civic construction project, while businesses were still recovering from pandemic closures and anti-Asian sentiment.

Roughly a third of the people living near the site are 65 or older, in a neighborhood where 60 percent of residents are Asian. ... Judith Zelikoff, a toxicologist who wrote in affidavit in support of the 2020 lawsuit than an environmental review of the jail site was inadequate, says older residents ... "are disproportionately vulnerable to health risks" [from harmful matter that can be released in demolition.] The dust “sticks on your skin," said Edward Cuccia. "You get an itchy feeling. It’s grainy and gross.”

William Bialosky, an architect who lives near the site, said that excavation work for the new jail tower could be risky, because the site sits on top of a former pond that would have to be drained. That process could shift the soil beneath nearby buildings, he said, including old tenements that could be damaged or even torn down. "You could get to a spot where a building becomes so expensive to restore that it’s cheaper to demolish"