Nicknamed the “Jailscraper,” the skyscraper jail has triggered controversy
New York City — Roughly a century ago, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon designed and built the world’s tallest building in the heart of Manhattan.
Though today it’s hard for us to imagine why building the Empire State Building would cause controversy, a 102-story building was unheard of in the 1930s.
The latest skyscraper to trigger a controversial reaction in the Big Apple will be the tallest correctional facility in the world.
Perhaps what’s most controversial about the high-rise for inmates is this: the Jailscraper will be located in the heart of Manhattan, built on top of the very site that once housed the infamous “Tombs” prison in Chinatown.
As for why NYC decided to build a skyscraper for inmates, the new facility is a byproduct of that old saying, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
So “desperate” and dire has the situation become at Rikers Island that the city hopes to shut the facility down altogether. Simply put, over the years the jail’s conditions have become too inhumane.