We, the undersigned residents, business owners, community members, and advocates, urge the City of New York to stop the Manhattan Borough Based Jail in its current plan, find an alternative site for the jail, and build affordable housing on 125 White Street.

The Manhattan Borough-Based Jail (BJJ) Plan, currently located on 125 White Street, is now projected for completion in 2032, six years after the legally mandated 2027 closure of Rikers Island, and at an estimated $3.8 billion, 124% over the initial budget of $1.7 billion. These escalating delays prolong the suffering of detainees at Rikers and the Chinatown community, who must endure the harmful impacts of large-scale construction. Chinatown residents and small businesses are facing long-term health and economic risks, including but not limited to air and noise pollution, traffic congestion, displacement, and decreasing foot traffic resulting in loss of business.

The proposed jail site should instead be repurposed for 100% affordable housing to address the dire need for low- and middle-income homes in Chinatown. According to the NYU Furman Center, in 2022, the increase in median gross rent in the neighborhood significantly exceeded the increase in median household income, with a difference of 17.3 percentage points. Additionally, 24.1% of renter households in the Lower East Side/Chinatown area were severely rent burdened, meaning they spent over 50% of their household income on rent. As the community faces severe displacement pressures, the White Street plot should be used to stabilize families, not expand incarceration infrastructure.

Instead of building a jail in the center of the neighborhood, the City should consider adaptive reuse of other viable sites, including the former Metropolitan Correctional Center and Silvio J. Mollo Building on Park Row, a faster, cheaper, and less disruptive alternative. Additionally, in lieu of the jail, an affordable housing building on the White Street site that will include ground-floor retail, community spaces, and outdoor green space - all available in a significantly lower building format, and with minimal subsurface construction that does not contribute to the dewatering issues and the threat to the structural stability of nearby residential/commercial buildings and the J train tunnel that the current Manhattan Borough-Based Jail construction plan will.

We demand that the City listen to Chinatown’s needs and adopt a plan that:

1. Builds affordable housing at 125 White Street to address the burgeoning housing crisis in Chinatown.
2. Implements adaptive reuse of two underutilized sites, the Metropolitan Correctional Center and Silvio J. Mollo Building, to be the designated site of the Manhattan Borough-Based Jail.
3. Minimizes harm to our community while meeting legal obligations under the borough-based jail plan.

Sign this petition to tell Mayor Mamdani and the City Council: Chinatown says NO to the White Street jail – YES to more affordable housing and safer, smarter justice solutions.