Construction begins on world's tallest jail in Manhattan
A skyscraper-sized jail designed by architecture office HOK is undergoing site preparation in New York City's Chinatown as one of the four new borough-based complexes designed to replace the city's notorious Rikers Island jail complex.
The Manhattan Detention Facility will be located at 125 White Street in Chinatown, on the same site as the former Manhattan Detention Complex (The Tombs), which was demolished in 2024.
The most up-to-date renders released by the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and HOK show a building that is 335 feet tall (102 metres) and roughly 13 floors, which aligns with the height of the New York County Criminal Court building next door.
It will be the tallest correctional facility in the world if built to this height, leading to its being dubbed a "jailscraper".
The Manhattan Detention Facility building is split into two main volumes by a walkway that cuts through the bottom of the base and provides a pedestrian passageway across the site.
A reddish mesh screen and undulating panels cover a portion of the facade.
Towards the middle of the building, this "double skin system with security mesh" will act as a viewpoint for those in custody and surround spaces such as the "recreation hall".
"To address privacy, a double skin system with security mesh and architectural screen supports visual privacy by creating a separation between the exterior-most facade and the people in custody," reads a DDC design document.
Cells are located in the upper floors, while the ground level will contain a public lobby, a community and retail space and a staff lobby. Below ground, there will be parking for Department of Correction and New York Police Department staff.
A total of 1,040 beds are planned for the facility.
According to the DDC, the city is still working with the surrounding community and the architecture team to finalise the design, which is updated periodically on the project website.
Per community request, a variety of plantings and some seating will be placed around the site and in the public walkway.
A visitor space that "feels comfortable and supports a welcoming environment" and contains easily accessible lockers and restrooms is also planned for the building per the community's request, according to the DDC.
An assortment of public artwork that previously surrounded the Tombs will be preserved and integrated around the site.
This includes aluminium wire sculptures by artist Kit-Yin Snyder, which stood outside the former entrance, and stone bas-reliefs by Richard Hass, which were encapsulated in the old facade.
Site work on the new Manhattan Detention Facility is underway, including utility work and preliminary excavation. It is slated for completion in 2032.
The jail is one of four in New York City put forward to receive a relocated population from the Rikers Island jail complex. Rikers Island, a small island located in the East River, contains 10 of the city's 15 correctional facilities, which hold up to 15,000 detainees.
It is notorious for its violent environment and inhumane conditions.
In 2019, New York City announced the complex's eventual closure, with plans to disperse the incarcerated population into four smaller jails in Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens via an initiative called the Borough-Based Jail Program.
HOK is leading the design of the Manhattan and Brooklyn jails, with Cetra Ruddy on The Bronx project and Michael Graves and others on the Queens jail.
Work on all four facilities is underway and in various stages, with the Brooklyn jail the furthest along, topping out just short of the Manhattan jail's planned height at 295 feet (89 metres).
The Manhattan jail has drawn much controversy, with the public and community organisations in opposition. Most recently, local leaders penned a letter to New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, warning of the site's structural fragility and calling for a reevaluation of the location.
"If foundation problems on this site delay or derail construction of the Manhattan facility, the four-borough program cannot absorb the Rikers population and closing Rikers will slip further out of reach," it reads.
Renderings of the Bronx Detention Center by CetraRuddy were made public last year. It is designed to be "responsive to the neighbourhood" and is made up of a stepped volume wrapped in a similar mesh screen as the Manhattan complex.
Some architecture studios have said that design can aid in creating more humane conditions for those incarcerated, while others, such as architect Michael Ford, have called on the design community to stop designing jails and prisons outright.
The images are by HOK, courtesy of the New York City Department of Design and Construction.
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