Brooklyn jail reopens for overnight prisoners

A downtown Brooklyn jail is reopening its doors for overnight prisoners, and residents in the surrounding neighborhood are not happy. After moving its 750 inmates to Rikers Island during a budget crisis

News 12 Staff

Nov 17, 2008, 11:39 PM

Updated 5,904 days ago

Share:

A downtown Brooklyn jail is reopening its doors for overnight prisoners, and residents in the surrounding neighborhood are not happy.
After moving its 750 inmates to Rikers Island during a budget crisis and a period of low occupancy in 2003, the Brooklyn Detention Complex has now reopened some of its cells to house prisoners overnight.
Thirty-one inmates were transferred over the weekend to help clean up the center, says the Department of Corrections. The facility will be used to house prisoners awaiting arraignment while cells at the criminal courthouse are renovated.
Though residents were surprised about the reopening, the Department of Corrections says it never fully closed the jail and has been open about plans to eventually double its size.
Residents say keeping the jail in their neighborhood interferes with their quality of life.