The New York City Department of Design and Construction initiated a program and construction management contract for a multi-billion dollar design-build effort to construct four new detention centers in the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. The new facilities are part of a new borough-based jail system and will enable the closure of the Rikers Correctional Center. Smaller detention centers will provide a safer environment for detainees and staff; offer physical and mental health services; and eliminate mass incarceration.
Melissa Johnson Associates was responsible for stakeholder and community engagement during the project’s planning and design phases. The firm’s community outreach specialists designed and moderated public meetings and workshops in order to gain stakeholder input. The workshops were geared toward soliciting feedback on the public spaces that will be designed as part of the project, including best use of the space, streetscape design, ground floor activation, lighting, building materials, and other features.
DID YOU KNOW?
Riker’s Island was named after Abraham Rycken, a Dutch settler from Long Island. Rycken’s descendants owned Rikers Island for nearly two centuries. The island was used as a military training ground during the Civil War. In 1884, the City of New York purchased the island from the Totten Brothers. Beginning in about 1903, the island started to be used to house prisoners that were transferred from Blackwells Island (today known as Roosevelt Island).
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