NYC Councilmember Bill de Blasio criticized the Bloomberg Administration today for attempting to waste tens of millions in taxpayer dollars on unnecessary architectural plans for expanding the Brooklyn House of Detention (BHOD) – an ill-conceived project that the City has estimated to cost upwards of $500 million.

In March, the Kings County Supreme Court ruled that the City must halt any steps to expand the BHOD until it conducts a fair share analysis, environmental review, and a full Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. Today, the City is asking the court for special permission to spend $34 million for expensive architectural plans for the BHOD expansion site, an action that is prohibited under the current court ruling. The City
justifies its request by claiming that it must have these plans in order to obtain the required review and analysis.

“In the middle of an economic crisis, Mayor Bloomberg is throwing tens of millions of dollars out the window. It defies common sense to prematurely toss money into a project that has been halted by the courts, is completely unnecessary, and may never be built.  I call on the Mayor to follow the court’s previous decision, and adequately address the concerns of the community before writing a check we will never get back,” said Councilmember de Blasio.

Critics claim that the City is choosing to make this costly $34 million request while ignoring more cost-effective alternatives. Critics of the BHOD expansion plan point out that the City already has sufficient information about the expansion in order to conduct the fair share analysis and a basic environmental review. Furthermore, there is no reason to pay an expensive outside firm, when the City already employs architects and engineers who could produce the plans in-house.

Randy Mastro, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, who represents the plaintiffs in the court action, said:  “The City does not need to waste $34 million dollars of your money to obtain simple, preliminary architectural plans on a project that may never legally qualify become a reality, especially since it has its own qualified professionals in the Department of Design and Construction.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)