Restaurant owners and workers recently voiced their concerns over plans for New York City jail in Chinatown. The Chinatown restaurants spoke out in an interview with the New York Post.
In 2019, the city announced it planned to close Rikers Island with four borough-based jails, ABC 7 New York reports. The new jail in Chinatown would replace the Manhattan Detention Complex near Canal St. and Centre St. It would be a 300-foot, 9-story complex. The former detention center has already been demolished.
Chinatown residents and leaders have been protesting plans for what they call a “mega-jail” for years. The protests gained traction in 2022 but the city has not indicated that it will retract its plans.
Now restaurant industry professionals are joining the fight against the jail.
“The city needs to completely rethink the size and scale of the jail. We don’t want a repeat of Rikers Island. We want it small and controllable,” Jan Lee, co-founder of Neighbors United Below Canal, told the New York Post.
Lee’s family is also the landlord for Hop Kee, the 55-year-old, late-night Cantonese restaurant.
Pot Luck Club chef/partner Zhan Chen also told The New York Post that the demolition of the Manhattan Detention Complex is already impacting the neighborhood.
“The quality of life has already been impacted by the demolition,” Chen said.
Lee believes businesses need to be given a chance to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I know of at least 20 businesses that have opened very bravely since COVID. These are families who have invested in everything from bubble tea to food and other businesses,” Lee told The New York Post. “We need to give them a chance before throwing this jail into the mix, which is like cutting them off at the knees.”
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