Calls to Halt Construction of Chinatown Jail After Cracks Discovered in Senior Home

For much of the week, from morning till evening, Chung Pak shakes with the intensity of an earthquake, according to a resident of the Chinatown housing complex for low-income seniors.

“It’s like a 4 to 5 magnitude quake. It shakes so much it makes my heart pound,” Li, 48, who identified himself by his surname, said in Mandarin Chinese. He’s the full-time caretaker of his nearly 80-year-old parents, who live on the 11th floor.

Ever since city contractors began to dismantle the 14-story Manhattan Detention Complex last April — to make way for one of the city’s new borough-based jails meant to replace Riker’s Island — residents have coped with the daily disturbances of living next to a large-scale demolition site. Li and his parents lived with the noise, dust, and constant vibrations, but his worries have mounted since a March 12 ABC7 report circulated on WeChat last week. It revealed that deep cracks had developed in the cinder blocks of the Chung Pak wall directly bordering the jail site. The Department of Buildings issued a partial stop work order that same day, halting all demolition work within 10 feet of the wall until engineers assess the damage.

Li said he and his parents have been trying to spend more time outside the building since.

He was among a crowd of over two dozen who rallied on Centre Street Friday afternoon, calling for a full stop work order until there’s an independent monitor to oversee the demolition process. They gathered outside Chung Pak’s Centre Street exit corridor, where the cracks were found.

“This is common sense. We’re not asking for the world,” said District 1 Councilmember Christopher Marte, flanked on his right by a group of elderly Chinatown residents. “Is the city prioritizing a $100 million plus demolition project, or is it for the community — especially the seniors that live right next to it?”

To his left were a coalition of elected officials and community advocates who have been championing Chinatown residents’ concerns in City Hall. Before the building demolition began last April, New York Assembymember Grace Lee, Sen. Brian Kavanagh, and Councilmember Marte had pushed for an adaptive reuse plan for the existing jail building, saying it would have minimized costs and shortened construction timelines. But the city blew off discussions about the plan and began demolition work with little warning, according to the elected officials. In May, the mayor’s office rejected adaptive reuse entirely, saying it was unfeasible. The old jail was coming down, and a new one would be erected in its place. At 295 feet, it would be the tallest correctional facility in the world.

At the rally, Beatrice Chen, who leads senior programming for Chung Pak residents, spoke on the building owners’ behalf. “As heavy machinery continues to be used daily, throughout the day, to dismantle the jail, there appears to be no concern for the effects it has to our building,” she said.

She described the effects: The Centre Street exit door “no longer fits the door frame.” There’s water “seeping through the walls” of the building’s second and third floors — “a sign that there are cracks ... that are not visible to the naked eye.” And through the visible cracks in the wall along the Center Street exit corridor, she said, “you can see daylight and the demolition site.”

In a statement, City Hall spokesperson Liz Garcia said that the damage was “non-structural” and that it had “no clear cause.” To the owners of Chung Pak, the cause is clear. Community advocates and the city have both noted that Chung Pak had existing damage before the demolition began. But Chung Pak’s owners say the damages listed by Chen are new and due to the demolition process.

City Hall maintains that it has responded adequately to the discovery of the cracks in the senior center with the partial stop work order. “We are confident that there is no immediate danger or threat to safety at Chung Pak, and contractors are working diligently to assess damage and make repairs as soon as possible,” said Garcia. Jan Lee, who leads the community organization Neighbors United Below Canal and is unrelated to the assembly member, said that while the “initial cracks may not be detrimental to the structure of the building,” they are an indication of potential danger to come.

Among community advocates, goodwill for the city and its contractors was scarce. City reports detail the dust, noise, and vibration monitoring measures in place, but to them, the city’s words are not enough — only an impartial, independent monitor would be dependable. “We have lost trust in this process. We have been having these conversations with the city for a very long time. We’ve been talking about what is necessary to accommodate the senior center next to the jail. And these conversations are not working,” said Assemblymember Grace Lee.

City Hall spokesperson Garcia did not respond to a question regarding demands for an independent monitor. Demolition contractor Gramercy Group Inc. did not respond to a request for comment.

The dust around the demolition site invokes memories of 9/11 for some nearby residents. Mariama James, a Community Board 1 member, spoke of fighting to have Chinatown recognized as an affected community in the aftermath of the attacks, when toxic air choked Lower Manhattan and its residents. “The people who have already taken a big respiratory hit from 9/11 and are particularly vulnerable as seniors need protection now,” she said.

For the low-income, immigrant residents of Chinatown who often don’t speak fluent English, James underscored, having their concerns taken seriously can be an uphill battle. “We have been warning about this kind of scenario,” said Jeanie Chin, an activist who lives across from the demolition site. “My head is exploding.”

Li, whose parents live in Chung Pak, told Our Town Downtown, “They’re taking advantage of us because we’re Chinese. ... Our interests are out of their consideration.” He said he would move his parents out of the building if the demolition process continues with no improvements, though it would be financially difficult. “It’s not about the money,” he said. “What if the building collapses?”

74-year-old Cheng Foi-Lin has lived in Chung Pak for over eight years. “Every single day, I’m very worried. Every day, I’m worried,” she said in Mandarin Chinese. “From the morning until five, six, or seven o’clock, [the building is] still shaking.” Her voice strained as she spoke over the rumbling from the jail site. “I’m scared. It’s as though the floor will collapse.”

When asked if she would move out of Chung Pak, she responded, “To where? I have nowhere to go.”