Literally No One Is Happy About the Massive Parole Center Being Built in Gowanus
If a good compromise is one in which neither side is happy, then New York's prison system leaders should be proud of themselves for angering just about everyone with their decision to build a giant facility for ex-criminals in the middle of Gowanus. Except it kind of wasn't really a compromise at all. And they're actually being sued.
Katie Toth Construction continues on November 12 at the Brooklyn parole headquarters in Gowanus.
Construction of a reporting office for parolees -- on Second Avenue between 5th Street and the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn -- has riled residents of the surrounding community who fear that, when finished, the facility will bring waves of criminals to their streets. Plans for the 60,000-square-foot center that will serve as many as 6,000 parolees per month haven't earned many fans among parolee advocates, either.
Gowanus residents have filed a lawsuit against the New York State Department of Correction and Community Supervision, the New York State Office of General Services, and New York City, for overriding the area's zoning restrictions to make way for the center. They also allege that the state approved the facility without conducting the proper environmental review for the site -- a former bus repair shop -- and that the community wasn't consulted on plans to build the center.
"I get it. It's not easy. We need parole facilities, and they're not easy to site," says New York City councilman Brad Lander, who represents Gowanus. "But the answer can't just be, 'Just don't tell them.' "
According to the Department of Correction, the center will service as many as 526 parolees a day, most of whom will go there weekly to meet with their parole officers. The facility is slated to employ about 150 people.
In addition to the lawsuit, an ad hoc group called Gowanus United has plastered the neighborhood with glossy flyers stating that the center's location is unsafe and inconvenient. They have a rally against the center planned for November 19: Protesters will stop for free hot chocolate from The Bahche before marching to the site to hear speeches from community leaders.
The chorus of opposition to the facility has occasioned calls of NIMBYism -- the notion that communities will object to construction of anything in their own back yards.
@epitaphmike how about we welcome into our community people who are trying to restart their lives. And we stop fanning hysteria. #Gowanus
— David Menschel (@davidminbklyn) October 26, 2014"@effedparkslope: Parole Office Coming To Gowanus. Predictable NIMBY Reactions Ensue. http://t.co/bfMChhlj74" great piece #justice #nimby
— Chris Maslin (@ffs_football) September 19, 2014Kathryn Krase, a social worker who owns property in Gowanus, has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years and is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. She's worried there isn't enough security or police foot patrol on the street to make a parole center safe for the neighborhood, and that the building is too close to Al-Madinah School, a Muslim K-12 institution. The school, located on Third Avenue, is just one avenue away from the facility. Gowanus United calls the area a "kid-friendly corridor" owing to its high-end amenities that cater to youngsters, including a skateboarding school and a clay workshop.
Krase says cries of NIMBYism are incorrect and uninformed.
"We're not Park Slope. We don't want to be Park Slope," she says of Gowanus's neighboring residential area, which has become known for its opposition to development. "Are there safety concerns? I think some of the child-centered businesses are concerned registered sex offenders on parole are going to walk past the school and the subway, and I think those concerns are valid."
Jeremy Saunders, a spokesman for VOCAL-NY, a nonprofit that advocates for, among other things, the rights of parolees and the incarcerated, says that what's happening in Gowanus is more complicated than some tired gentrification narrative.
"There are issues of NIMBYism going on right now. It's undeniable," Saunders says. "There's also very good reasons why this [parole center] is not necessarily a good idea."
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