Brooklyn Detention Complex

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Brooklyn Detention Complex
Brooklyn Detention Center construction.jpg
The new jail being constructed in 2025
Brooklyn Detention Complex
Location275 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn New York
Coordinates 40°41′20″N73°59′22″W / 40.6890°N 73.9895°W / 40.6890; -73.9895
StatusClosed
The Brooklyn Detention Complex in 2017 Brooklyn Detention Complex, Sept 2017.jpg
The Brooklyn Detention Complex in 2017

The Brooklyn Detention Complex (originally the Brooklyn House of Detention) was a jail facility located at 275 Atlantic Avenue, in Brooklyn. At full capacity, it was able to house 815 male prisoners in its single cells. [1] Most of the population was made up of detainees undergoing the intake process or awaiting trial in Kings or Richmond County. [1]

Built in the 1950s, the jail closed in 2003 due to a declining inmate population. It reopened in 2012 after renovations with 544 staff. [2]

In 2017, New York City committed to closing the jails on Rikers Island and creating a network of modern borough-based jails instead. The Brooklyn Detention Center was designated as one of the jails that would be used to replace Rikers. [3] In August 2018, the city released a Draft Scope of Work outlining their plan for the new jail, which would tear down the existing 162,000 sq ft. facility and replace it with a building eight times as large (1.4 million sq ft.) and up to 40 stories tall. [4]

In March 2024, plans for the new jail gained traction with the demolition of the old structure. Construction began in 2025, projected to be complete in 2029. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Brooklyn Detention Complex". Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, Inc.
  2. Robbins, Liz (3 February 2012). "Reopening of Brooklyn House of Detention Worries Neighbors". The New York Times .
  3. Rikers. "NYC Borough-Based Jails - Rikers". Rikers. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  4. "New York City Borough-Based Jail System Draft Scope of Work to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement" (PDF). p. 7. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  5. HongShare, Joe (2025-04-08). "The noisy, nocturnal rush to build Brooklyn's new jail has neighbors losing sleep". Gothamist. Retrieved 2025-08-10.