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{{Short description|Detention complex in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Short description|Detention complex in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Other uses}}
{{other uses|The Tombs (novel)|The Tombs (film)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
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{{Infobox prison
{{Infobox prison
| prison_name = The Tombs<br />(Manhattan Detention Complex)
| prison_name = The Tombs<br />(Manhattan Detention Complex)
| image = Manhattan Detention Complex north building.jpg
| image = Manhattan Detention Complex north building.jpg
| location = [[New York City]], United States
| location = [[New York City]]
| coordinates =
| coordinates =
| status = '''Active'''
| status = '''Active'''
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|caption=The North Tower of the complex as it appeared in 2013}}
}}
'''The Tombs''' is the colloquial name for the '''Manhattan Detention Complex'''<ref name=Chan/> (formerly the Bernard B. Kerik Complex<ref name=Kerik/>), a municipal jail in [[Lower Manhattan]] at 125 White Street, and also the nickname for three previous city-run jails in the former [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]] neighborhood of lower Manhattan, an area now known as the [[Civic Center, Manhattan|Civic Center]].
'''The Tombs''' was the colloquial name for '''Manhattan Detention Complex'''<ref name=Chan/> (formerly the '''Bernard B. Kerik Complex''' during 2001–2006<ref name=Kerik/>), a former municipal jail at 125 White Street in [[Lower Manhattan]], New York City. It was also the nickname for three previous city-run jails in the former [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]] neighborhood of lower Manhattan, in an area now known as the [[Civic Center, Manhattan|Civic Center]].


The original Tombs was officially known as the '''Halls of Justice''', built in 1838 in the [[Egyptian Revival]] architectural style.<ref name=Chan>{{cite news|last=Chan|first=Sewell|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/03/nyregion/03kerik.html|title=Disgraced and Penalized, Kerik Finds His Name Stripped Off Jail|work=[[New York Times]]|date=July 3, 2006|access-date=February 16, 2021|url-access=limited}}</ref> It was a replacement for the Colonial-era [[Bridewell (New York City jail)|Bridewell Prison]] located in City Hall Park, built in 1735 and demolished in 1838. The new structure incorporated material, mainly granite, from the Bridewell to save money.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carrott|first=Richard G.|title=The Egyptian revival: its sources, monuments, and meaning, 1808–1858|publisher=University of California Press|date=1978|isbn=978-0520033245|page=165|oclc=633069010|lccn=76024579|location=Berkeley}}</ref>
The original Tombs was officially known as the '''Halls of Justice''', built in 1838 in an [[Egyptian Revival]] architectural style, similar in form to a [[mastaba]].<ref name=Chan>{{cite news|last=Chan|first=Sewell|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/03/nyregion/03kerik.html|title=Disgraced and Penalized, Kerik Finds His Name Stripped Off Jail|work=[[New York Times]]|date=July 3, 2006|access-date=February 16, 2021|url-access=limited}}</ref> It may have been this style that caused it to be called "the Tombs", although other theories exist. It was built as a replacement for the Colonial-era [[Bridewell (New York City jail)|Bridewell Prison]] located in City Hall Park, built in 1735. The new structure incorporated material from the demolished Bridewell to save money.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carrott|first=Richard G.|title=The Egyptian revival: its sources, monuments, and meaning, 1808–1858|publisher=University of California Press|date=1978|isbn=978-0520033245|page=165|oclc=633069010|lccn=76024579|location=Berkeley}}</ref>


The four buildings known as The Tombs were:
The four buildings known as The Tombs were:
* 1838–1902, New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention
* 1838–1902, New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention
* 1902–1941, City Prison
* 1902–1941, City Prison
* 1941–1974, Manhattan House of Detention
* 1941–2023, Manhattan House of Detention (became Manhattan Detention Complex South Tower in 1983)
* 1983–present, Manhattan Detention Complex (known as the Bernard B. Kerik Complex from 2001 to 2006)
* 1990–2023, Manhattan Detention Complex North Tower
The two existing buildings began demolition in 2023, in preparation for a planned replacement jail building.


== History ==
== History ==
=== Halls of Justice and House of Detention, 1838–1902 ===
=== Halls of Justice and House of Detention, 1838–1902 ===
[[File:(King1893NYC) pg501 THE TOMBS. THE PLACE OF DETENTION FOR CRIMINALS AWAITING TRIAL (cropped).jpg|alt=An Egyptian-Revival-style building on a street corner; there are doric columns on the façade to the right of the image. There are men on the street, and work is being done using cranes, on an adjacent building out of frame to the right.|left|thumb|The original [[Egyptian Revival architecture|Egyptian-Revival]]-style Tombs building in a photograph from 1893. Leonard Street, left. Centre Street, right.]]
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| alt1 = An etching of a man and a woman being married in a jail cell. Sunlight streams in through a small window.
| alt1 = An Egyptian-Revival-style building on a street corner, with doric columns on its façade and a large flag flying atop a mast. Pedestrians are seen navigating two horse-drawn trams, which travel on lines that bisect intersecting streets.
| caption1 = Artist's depiction of the wedding of [[John C. Colt]] in The Tombs, 1842
| caption1 = The original [[Egyptian Revival architecture|Egyptian-Revival]]-style Tombs building in an engraving from 1870. Leonard Street, left. Centre Street, right.
<!--image 2-->| image2 = Thaw in jail.tiff
| image2 = (King1893NYC) pg501 THE TOMBS. THE PLACE OF DETENTION FOR CRIMINALS AWAITING TRIAL (cropped).jpg
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| alt2 = An Egyptian-Revival-style building on a street corner; there are doric columns on the façade to the right of the image. There are men on the street, and work is being done using cranes, on an adjacent building out of frame to the right.
| caption2 = The building photographed in 1893
| caption2 = [[Harry Kendall Thaw]] in his cell, 1912
}}
}}
The first complex to have the nickname was an [[Egyptian Revival architecture|Egyptian Revival]] design by [[John Haviland]] completed in 1838. There was a rumor at the time that the building was inspired by a picture of an Egyptian tomb that appeared in [[John Lloyd Stephens]]' ''Incidents of Travel in Egypt'', although this appears to be untrue.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0DE2D71730E033A25757C0A9619C94679ED7CF "Doom of the Old Tombs; Soon to be Removed to Make Way for New Prison"]. ''[[The New York Times]]'' (July 4, 1896)</ref><ref>Carrott, Richard G. ''The Egyptian Revival: Its Sources, Monuments, and Meaning, 1808-1858''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1978. p. 165</ref> The building was 253 feet, 3&nbsp;inches in length and 200 feet, 5&nbsp;inches wide, and it occupied a full block, surrounded by [[Centre Street (Manhattan)|Centre Street]], Franklin Street, [[Lafayette Street (Manhattan)|Elm Street]] (today's Lafayette), and [[Leonard Street (Manhattan)|Leonard Street]]. It initially accommodated about 300 prisoners, and $250,000 was allocated in 1835 to build it, but various cost overruns occurred prior to completion of the project.
The first complex to have the nickname was an [[Egyptian Revival architecture|Egyptian Revival]] design by [[John Haviland]] completed in 1838. There was a rumor at the time that the building was inspired by a picture of an Egyptian tomb that appeared in [[John Lloyd Stephens]]' ''Incidents of Travel in Egypt'', although this appears to be untrue.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0DE2D71730E033A25757C0A9619C94679ED7CF "Doom of the Old Tombs; Soon to be Removed to Make Way for New Prison"]. ''[[The New York Times]]'' (July 4, 1896)</ref><ref>Carrott, Richard G. ''The Egyptian Revival: Its Sources, Monuments, and Meaning, 1808–1858''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1978. p. 165</ref> The building was 253 feet, 3&nbsp;inches in length and 200 feet, 5&nbsp;inches wide, and it occupied a full block, surrounded by [[Centre Street (Manhattan)|Centre Street]], Franklin Street, [[Lafayette Street (Manhattan)|Elm Street]] (today's Lafayette), and [[Leonard Street (Manhattan)|Leonard Street]]. It initially accommodated about 300 prisoners, and $250,000 was allocated in 1835 to build it, but various cost overruns occurred prior to completion of the project.


The building site had been created by filling in the [[Collect Pond]] that was the principal water source for Colonial New York City. Industrialization and population density by the late 18th century resulted in the severe pollution of the Collect, so it was condemned, drained, and filled in by 1817. The landfill job was poorly done, however, and the ground began to subside in less than 10 years. The resulting swampy, foul-smelling conditions transformed the neighborhood into a slum known as [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]] by the time that prison construction started in 1838. The heavy masonry of Haviland's design was built atop vertical piles of lashed hemlock tree trunks in a bid for stability, but the entire structure began to sink soon after it was opened. This damp foundation was primarily responsible for its unsanitary conditions in the decades that followed. [[Charles Dickens]] wrote about the jail in ''[[American Notes]]'': "Such indecent and disgusting dungeons as these cells, would bring disgrace upon the most despotic empire in the world!"<ref name="NYT 16 June 2019">{{cite news |last1=Libbey |first1=Peter |title=New York's Tribute to the 'Tombs Angel': Lost, Found, Now Restored |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/16/arts/design/new-york-monument-tombs-angel.html |access-date=June 17, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=June 16, 2019}}</ref>
The building site had been created by filling in the [[Collect Pond]] that was the principal water source for Colonial New York City. Industrialization and population density by the late 18th century resulted in the severe pollution of the Collect, so it was condemned, drained, and filled in by 1817. The landfill job was poorly done, however, and the ground began to subside in less than 10 years. The resulting swampy, foul-smelling conditions transformed the neighborhood into a slum known as [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]] by the time that prison construction started in 1838. The heavy masonry of Haviland's design was built atop vertical piles of lashed hemlock tree trunks in a bid for stability, but the entire structure began to sink soon after it was opened. This damp foundation was primarily responsible for its unsanitary conditions in the decades that followed. [[Charles Dickens]] wrote about the jail in ''[[American Notes]]'': "Such indecent and disgusting dungeons as these cells, would bring disgrace upon the most despotic empire in the world!"<ref name="NYT 16 June 2019">{{cite news |last1=Libbey |first1=Peter |title=New York's Tribute to the 'Tombs Angel': Lost, Found, Now Restored |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/16/arts/design/new-york-monument-tombs-angel.html |access-date=June 17, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=June 16, 2019}}</ref>


The Tombs' formal title was The New York Halls of Justice and House of Detention, as it housed the city's courts, police, and detention facilities. It was a notable example of Egyptian Revival architecture, although opinion varied greatly concerning its actual merit. As Dickens wrote: "What is this dismal fronted pile of bastard Egyptian, like an enchanter's palace in a melodrama?"
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| width1 = <!-- displayed width of image; overridden by "width" above -->
| alt1 = An etching of a man and a woman being married in a jail cell. Sunlight streams in through a small window.
| caption1 = Artist's depiction of the wedding of [[John C. Colt]] in The Tombs, 1842
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| image2 = Thaw in jail.tiff
| width2 = <!-- displayed width of image; overridden by "width" above -->
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| caption2 = [[Harry Kendall Thaw]] in his cell, 1912
}}

The Tombs' formal title was The New York Halls of Justice and House of Detention, as it housed the city's courts, police, and detention facilities. It was a notable example of [[Egyptian Revival architecture]], although opinion varied greatly concerning its actual merit. As Dickens wrote: "What is this dismal fronted pile of bastard Egyptian, like an enchanter's palace in a melodrama?"


The prison was well known for its corruption and was the scene of numerous scandals and escapes during its early history. A fire destroyed part of the building on November 18, 1842, the same day that a notorious killer named [[John C. Colt]] was due to be hanged. Apparently it was an escape attempt on Colt's part that failed, and he fatally stabbed himself in his cell.<ref>Kernan, J. Frank. ''Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York'' p.220</ref> Convicted murderer and New York City politician [[William J. Sharkey (murderer)|William J. Sharkey]] earned national notoriety for escaping from the prison disguised as a woman on November 22, 1872. He was never captured and his fate is unknown.<ref>Walling, George W. ''Recollections of a New York Chief of Police''. New York: Caxton Book Concern, Ltd., 1887. pp.292-296.</ref>
The prison was well known for its corruption and was the scene of numerous scandals and escapes during its early history. A fire destroyed part of the building on November 18, 1842, the same day that a notorious killer named [[John C. Colt]] was due to be hanged. Apparently it was an escape attempt on Colt's part that failed, and he fatally stabbed himself in his cell.<ref>Kernan, J. Frank. ''Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York'' p. 220</ref> Convicted murderer and New York City politician [[William J. Sharkey (murderer)|William J. Sharkey]] earned national notoriety for escaping from the prison disguised as a woman on November 22, 1872. He was never captured and his fate is unknown.<ref>Walling, George W. ''Recollections of a New York Chief of Police''. New York: Caxton Book Concern, Ltd., 1887. pp. 292–296.</ref>


[[Rebecca Salome Foster]], a prison relief worker and missionary, became known as "the Tombs Angel" for her efforts to help and advocate on behalf of the many poor people held in squalid conditions at the Tombs. A monument to her, built in 1902 and put in storage in 1940, was rededicated in 2019 in the [[New York State Supreme Court]]'s lobby.<ref name="NYT 16 June 2019" />
[[Rebecca Salome Foster]], a prison relief worker and missionary, became known as "the Tombs Angel" for her efforts to help and advocate on behalf of the many poor people held in squalid conditions at the Tombs. A monument to her, built in 1902 and put in storage in 1940, was rededicated in 2019 in the [[New York State Supreme Court]]'s lobby.<ref name="NYT 16 June 2019" />
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=== City Prison, 1902–1941 ===
=== City Prison, 1902–1941 ===
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| caption1 = The "Bridge of Sighs" connecting the 1902 Tombs prison at left with the 1894 Manhattan Criminal Courts building, looking west from Centre Street
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| caption2 = The Bridge of Sighs {{circa|1896}}
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| caption2 = The Bridge of Sighs {{circa|1896}}
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In 1902, the 1838 building was replaced by a million-dollar City Prison featuring an eight-story [[Châteauesque]] facade with conical towers along Centre Street, bounded by Centre Street, White Street, Elm Street (today's Lafayette), and Leonard Street.<ref>http://www.nyc-architecture.com/IM-111002/110927-GON072-04.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref>
In 1902, the 1838 building was replaced by a million-dollar City Prison featuring an eight-story [[Châteauesque]] facade with conical towers along Centre Street, bounded by Centre Street, White Street, Elm Street (today's Lafayette), and Leonard Street.<ref>http://www.nyc-architecture.com/IM-111002/110927-GON072-04.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref>


The architects were [[Frederick Clarke Withers]] and Walter Dickson from Albany, who had partnered together since the 1880s. This was their final major commission. In September 1900, the architects complained that construction would be delayed for a year and cost an additional $250,000 due to the unnecessary insertion of corrupt [[Tammany Hall]] architects Horgan and Slattery into the project.<ref>"City Prison Alterations", ''The New York Times'', September 7, 1900</ref>
The architects were [[Frederick Clarke Withers]] and Walter Dickson from Albany, who had been partners since the 1880s. This was their final major commission. In September 1900, the architects complained that construction would be delayed for a year and cost an additional $250,000 due to the unnecessary insertion of corrupt [[Tammany Hall]] architects Horgan and Slattery into the project.<ref>"City Prison Alterations", ''The New York Times'', September 7, 1900</ref>


The building was connected to the 1892 Manhattan Criminal Courts Building with a "Bridge of Sighs", crossing four stories above Franklin Street. There was also an Annex with another 144 cells that had been finished in 1884.
The building was connected to the 1892 Manhattan Criminal Courts Building with a "Bridge of Sighs", crossing four stories above Franklin Street. There was also an Annex with another 144 cells that was finished in 1884.


=== Manhattan House of Detention, 1941–1974 ===
=== Manhattan House of Detention, 1941–1974 ===
[[File:100 Centre Street 003.jpg|thumb|The Manhattan House of Detention ''(left)'' was built in 1941, at the same time as the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse ''(right)''. It became the South Tower of the expanded and renamed Manhattan Detention Complex once the new North Tower opened in 1990.|left]]
The 1902 prison was replaced in 1941 by a high-rise facility across the street on the east side of Centre Street. The 795,000 square foot<ref>http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202475526745/One-Month-After-Blaze-at-Key-NYC-Couthouse,-Miseries-Continue?slreturn=20140126031806 {{dead link|date=February 2021}}</ref> [[Art Deco architecture]] facility was designed by architects [[Harvey Wiley Corbett]] and Charles B. Meyers.<ref>Wolfe, Gerard R. (2003) ''New York, 15 Walking Tours: An Architectural Guide to the Metropolis.'' (New York: McGraw-Hill Professional ({{ISBN|0071411852}} ), p.102</ref><ref name="tombs">{{Cite web
The 1902 prison was replaced in 1941 by a high-rise facility across the street on the east side of Centre Street. The 795,000 square foot<ref>http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202475526745/One-Month-After-Blaze-at-Key-NYC-Couthouse,-Miseries-Continue?slreturn=20140126031806 {{dead link|date=February 2021}}</ref> [[Art Deco architecture]] facility was designed by architects [[Harvey Wiley Corbett]] and Charles B. Meyers.<ref>Wolfe, Gerard R. (2003) ''New York, 15 Walking Tours: An Architectural Guide to the Metropolis.'' (New York: McGraw-Hill Professional ({{ISBN|0071411852}} ), p. 102</ref><ref name="tombs">{{cite web
|url = http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/resources/man_criminalcourt.shtml
|url = http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/resources/man_criminalcourt.shtml
|title = Manhattan Criminal Court Building
|title = Manhattan Criminal Court Building
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}}</ref>


The facility is the northernmost of the four 15-story towers of the New York City Criminal Courts Building at 100 Centre Street, bounded by Centre Street, White Street, Baxter Street, and Hogan Place. The three southern towers are wings of a single integrated structure sharing a five-story "crown"<ref>http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=30093</ref> which house the city's Criminal and Supreme Courts, city offices, and various departments, including the headquarters of the Department of Corrections. The northern tower is freestanding, with the separate address of 125 White Street. It was officially named the Manhattan House of Detention for Men (MHD), although it was still referred to popularly as The Tombs.
The facility is the northernmost of the four 15-story towers of the New York City Criminal Courts Building at 100 Centre Street, bounded by Centre Street, White Street, Baxter Street, and Hogan Place. The three southern towers are wings of a single integrated structure sharing a five-story "crown"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=30093 |title=Criminal Courts Building, New York City |publisher=SkyscraperPage.com |date= |accessdate=May 2, 2022}}</ref> which house the city's Criminal and Supreme Courts, city offices, and various departments, including the headquarters of the Department of Corrections. The northern tower is freestanding, with the separate address of 125 White Street. It was officially named the Manhattan House of Detention for Men (MHD), although it was still referred to popularly as The Tombs.


By 1969, the Tombs ranked as the worst of the city's jails, both in overall conditions and in overcrowding. It held an average of 2,000 inmates in spaces designed for 925.<ref>Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 140</ref> Inmates rioted on August 10, 1970, after multiple warnings about falling budgets, aging facilities, and rising populations, and after an informational picket of City Hall by union correctional officers drawing attention to the pressures. Rioters took command of the entire ninth floor, and five officers were held hostage for eight hours, until state officials agreed to hear prisoner grievances and take no punitive action against the rioters.<ref>Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 143</ref> Despite that promise, Mayor [[John Lindsay]] had the primary troublemakers shipped upstate to the state's [[Attica Correctional Facility]] which likely contributed to the [[Attica Prison riot]] about a year later.<ref>States of Siege : U.S. Prison Riots, 1971-1986, by Public Safety Research at the Urban Research Institute University of Louisville, page 26</ref>
By 1969, the Tombs ranked as the worst of the city's jails, both in overall conditions and in overcrowding. It held an average of 2,000 inmates in spaces designed for 925.<ref>Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 140</ref> Inmates rioted on August 10, 1970, after multiple warnings about falling budgets, aging facilities, and rising populations, and after an informational picket of City Hall by union correctional officers drawing attention to the pressures. Rioters took command of the entire ninth floor, and five officers were held hostage for eight hours, until state officials agreed to hear prisoner grievances and take no punitive action against the rioters.<ref>Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 143</ref> Despite that promise, Mayor [[John Lindsay]] had the primary troublemakers shipped upstate to the state's [[Attica Correctional Facility]] which likely contributed to the [[Attica Prison riot]] about a year later.<ref>States of Siege : U.S. Prison Riots, 1971–1986, by Public Safety Research at the Urban Research Institute University of Louisville, page 26</ref>


Within a month after the riot, the New York City Legal Aid Society filed a landmark class action suit on behalf of pre-trial detainees held in the Tombs. The city decided to close the Tombs on December 20, 1974, after years of litigation and after federal judge [[Morris E. Lasker]] agreed that the prison's conditions were so bad as to be unconstitutional. They shipped the remaining 400 inmates to [[Rikers Island]], where conditions were not much better.<ref>Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 149</ref>
Within a month after the riot, the New York City Legal Aid Society filed a landmark class action suit on behalf of pre-trial detainees held in the Tombs. The city decided to close the Tombs on December 20, 1974, after years of litigation and after federal judge [[Morris E. Lasker]] agreed that the prison's conditions were so bad as to be unconstitutional. They shipped the remaining 400 inmates to [[Rikers Island]], where conditions were not much better.<ref>Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 149</ref>


=== Manhattan Detention Complex, 1983–present ===
=== Manhattan Detention Complex, 1983–2023 ===
The Manhattan Detention Complex consisted of a South Tower, the former Manhattan House of Detention remodeled and reopened in 1983, and a North Tower across White Street, completed in 1990. The complex housed only male inmates, most of them pretrial detainees. The total capacity of the two buildings was nearly 900 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/facilities_overview.shtml|title=Facilities Overview – Department of Correction|website=City of New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420183144/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/facilities_overview.shtml|archive-date=April 20, 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=March 7, 2018|quote=Manhattan Detention Complex – capacity: 898. This lower Manhattan command consists of two buildings designated the North and South Towers, connected by a bridge. The North Tower was opened in 1990. The South Tower, formerly the Manhattan House of Detention, or the "Tombs," was opened in 1983, after a complete remodeling. The complex houses male detainees, most of them undergoing the intake process or facing trial in New York County (Manhattan).}}</ref>
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}}
Today, the Manhattan Detention Complex consists of a South Tower, the former Manhattan House of Detention remodeled and reopened in 1983, and a North Tower across White Street, completed in 1990. The complex still houses only male inmates, most of them pretrial detainees. The total capacity of the two buildings is nearly 900 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/facilities_overview.shtml|title=Facilities Overview - Department of Correction|website=City of New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420183144/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/facilities_overview.shtml|archive-date=April 20, 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=March 7, 2018|quote=Manhattan Detention Complex - capacity: 898. This lower Manhattan command consists of two buildings designated the North and South Towers, connected by a bridge. The North Tower was opened in 1990. The South Tower, formerly the Manhattan House of Detention, or the "Tombs," was opened in 1983, after a complete remodeling. The complex houses male detainees, most of them undergoing the intake process or facing trial in New York County (Manhattan).}}</ref>


The jail was named The Bernard B. Kerik Complex in December 2001 at the direction of New York City mayor [[Rudolph Giuliani]].<ref name=Kerik>{{cite press release|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2001b/pr395-01.html|title=Mayor Giuliani and Correction Commissioner Fraser rename the Manhattan Detention Complex 'The Bernard B. Kerik Complex'|publisher=City of New York|date=December 12, 2001|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref> [[Bernard Kerik|Kerik]] was commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections from 1998 to 2000<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/11/us/bernard-kerik-fast-facts/|title=Bernard Kerik Fast Facts|date=March 4, 2020|access-date=February 16, 2021|work=CNN}}</ref><ref name=Chan/> before becoming police commissioner.<ref name="CNN"/> New York City mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] ordered Kerik's name removed after he [[Bernard Kerik#Criminal investigation and convictions|pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors]] in 2006, committed during his tenure as a city employee.<ref name=Chan/>
In the fall of 2020, the city planned to close the complex prior to the end of November 2020, according to an article in the New York Daily News.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Marcius|first=Chelsia Rose|title=NYC to close two city jails by November: 'The Tombs' in Lower Manhattan and a jail on Rikers Island|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-correction-department-closes-the-tombs-20201009-q2bdw4scrzh2rfzfuyynsqmioa-story.html|access-date=October 18, 2020|website=New York Daily News}}</ref>


In 2019, the [[New York City Council]] announced plans to build four new jails citywide to replace [[Rikers Island]], including a high-rise jail tower on the site of the Tombs.<ref name="Poon 2022 w139">{{cite web |last=Poon |first=Linda |date=June 17, 2022 |title=Rikers Jail Replacement Plan Pits Chinatown Against New York City |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-17/nyc-plan-to-replace-rikers-spurs-protest-in-chinatown |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=Bloomberg.com}}</ref> The ''[[New York Daily News]]'' reported that the city planned to close the complex prior to the end of November 2020.<ref>{{cite web|last=Marcius|first=Chelsia Rose|title=NYC to close two city jails by November: 'The Tombs' in Lower Manhattan and a jail on Rikers Island|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-correction-department-closes-the-tombs-20201009-q2bdw4scrzh2rfzfuyynsqmioa-story.html|access-date=October 18, 2020|website=New York Daily News|date=October 9, 2020 }}</ref> The demolition of the Tombs attracted criticism from landlords, local residents, and prison-reform advocates.<ref name="Poon 2022 w139" /><ref name="Chan 2023 r767">{{cite web | last=Chan | first=Wilfred | title=New York is building the world's tallest jail in Chinatown. Can anyone stop it? | website=the Guardian | date=August 21, 2023 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/21/new-york-jail-chinatown-rikers-island | access-date=March 2, 2024}}</ref> Opponents claimed the redevelopment would harm local residents and businesses.<ref name="Poon 2022 w139" /> An injunction preventing the jail tower's construction was issued by the [[New York Supreme Court]] in 2020 but was overturned the next year.<ref name="Insider 2022 j407">{{cite web |last=Insider |first=Business |date=April 22, 2022 |title=Residents fight plans for 'mega jail' in New York City's Chinatown |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3175146/new-york-city-wants-build-mega-jail-chinatown |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=South China Morning Post}}</ref> Two artists also filed a lawsuit to preserve artwork that was displayed on the Tombs' facade, but U.S. district judge [[Lewis A. Kaplan]] declined to grant an injunction,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Small |first=Zachary |date=May 19, 2022 |title=Demolition for Jail Can Go Forward, Judge Rules in a Suit Brought by Artists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/arts/design/artist-lawsuit-manhattan-detention-complex.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and seven murals were subsequently removed.<ref name="Duddridge 2023 l686">{{cite web |last=Duddridge |first=Natalie |date=November 10, 2023 |title=Artists mourn loss of Manhattan Detention Center murals as buildings are demolished |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/manhattan-detention-center-complex-murals-art/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=CBS New York}}</ref> The demolition of the Tombs was finally approved in April 2023<ref name="Tribeca Citizen 2023 f509">{{cite web | title=Demolition to start on White Street jails | website=Tribeca Citizen | date=April 20, 2023 | url=https://tribecacitizen.com/2023/04/20/demolition-to-start-on-white-street-jails/ | access-date=March 2, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Garber 2023 z947">{{cite web |last=Garber |first=Nick |date=April 20, 2023 |title=Teardown of Manhattan jail set to begin amid Rikers uncertainty |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics/teardown-manhattan-jail-set-begin-amid-rikers-uncertainty |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=Crain's New York Business}}</ref> but was paused after further objections.<ref name="Johnson 2023 s450">{{cite web | last=Johnson | first=Stephon | title=City Hits Pause on Demolition of Manhattan Detention Center After Outcry From Locals | website=THE CITY – NYC News | date=April 26, 2023 | url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/04/26/pause-demolition-manhattan-detention-center/ | access-date=March 2, 2024}}</ref> Demolition continued despite objection by local residents.<ref>{{cite news | last=Chen | first=Stefanos | last2=Chan | first2=Mable | title=Anger in New York Over Huge Chinatown Jail Project | work=The New York Times | date=April 1, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/nyregion/jail-construction-chinatown-manhattan.html | access-date=April 13, 2024}}</ref>
The current jail was named The Bernard B. Kerik Complex in December 2001 at the direction of New York City mayor [[Rudolph Giuliani]].<ref name=Kerik>{{cite press release|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2001b/pr395-01.html|title=Mayor Giuliani and Correction Commissioner Fraser rename the Manhattan Detention Complex 'The Bernard B. Kerik Complex'|publisher=City of New York|date=December 12, 2001|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref> [[Bernard Kerik|Kerik]] was commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections from 1998 to 2000<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/11/us/bernard-kerik-fast-facts/|title=Bernard Kerik Fast Facts|date=March 4, 2020|access-date=February 16, 2021|work=CNN}}</ref><ref name=Chan/> before becoming police commissioner.<ref name="CNN"/> New York City mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] ordered his name removed after he [[Bernard Kerik#State and federal investigation, federal indictment, and conviction|pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors]] in 2006, committed during his tenure as a city employee.<ref name=Chan/>


==Notable people==
==In popular culture==
* [[Edward Coleman (gangster)|Edward Coleman]], first criminal executed at the prison in 1839
'''Film'''
* [[Rebecca Salome Foster]], prison relief worker known as "The Tombs Angel"
<!--Chronological-->
* [[Ernestine Schaffner]], prison relief worker known as "The Tombs Angel"
* The Tombs briefly appear in [[The Man from Beyond|''The Man From Beyond'']] (1922) with [[Harry Houdini]]
* [[Vojislav Stanimirović (criminal)|Vojislav Stanimirović]] (crime boss) YACS
*The Tombs and the Bridge of Sighs appears in ''[[For the Defense (1930 film)|For the Defense]]'' (1930) with [[William Powell]]
* [[William M. Tweed]], head of the [[Tammany Hall]] political ring, spent a year in the Tombs after his second trial in 1873
* The Tombs appear in the 1947 [[film noir]] ''[[Kiss of Death (1947 film)|Kiss of Death]].''
* [[Morris U. Schappes]], American educator, writer, radical political activist, historian, and magazine editor, incarcerated in the Tombs after a 1941 perjury conviction obtained in association with testimony before the [[Rapp-Coudert Committee]] (investigating Communism in education in New York)
* The Tombs was used in which to film ''[[Short Eyes (film)|Short Eyes]]'' (1977).
* The Tombs appear in the [[Shaft (2000 film)|2000 remake]] of ''[[Shaft (1971 film)|Shaft]].''
* Towards the end of the movie ''[[American Gangster (film)|American Gangster]]'' (2007), [[Denzel Washington]]'s character, [[Frank Lucas (drug dealer)|Frank Lucas]], is seen leaving prison after a 15-year sentence. This scene was filmed at the Tombs, although in real life prisoners are held there for relatively brief stays (arraignments, trials, etc.).


In November 2000, 16 people associated with the ''[[Opie and Anthony]]'' radio show were arrested and held in The Tombs overnight during a promotion for [https://web.archive.org/web/20010118214900/http://www.voyeurbus.com/ "The Voyeur Bus"], a mostly glass bus carting topless women through [[Manhattan]] with a police escort.<ref>{{cite news | first=William | last=Rashbaum | title=Escort of Voyeur Bus Suspended by Police | date=February 12, 2000 |url =https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F0081FFC34590C718CDDAB0994D8404482 | work=The New York Times | access-date = July 5, 2007 }}</ref>
'''Literature and plays'''
<!--Alphabetical by author's last name-->
* In the [[James Baldwin]] novel ''[[If Beale Street Could Talk]]'', Fonny is incarcerated in The Tombs after being falsely accused of rape.
*[[William Burroughs]] refers to The Tombs in his semi-autobiographical book ''[[Junkie (novel)|Junkie]]''.
* As mentioned above, [[Charles Dickens]] disparaged The Tombs' architecture in ''[[American Notes]]'' (1842).
* In his autobiographical novel ''[[Memos from Purgatory]],'' [[Harlan Ellison]] describes his brief incarceration in The Tombs following his arrest for possession of a firearm that he had used as a prop while lecturing.<ref>{{cite web | first = S. Michael | last = Wilson | url = https://www.amazon.com/review/R22QATRT3TOY2H/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm/ | title = Paging Cordwainer Bird.... | format = Customer review of ''Memos from Purgatory'' | publisher = [[Amazon.com]] | date = July 22, 2001 | access-date = October 10, 2007 }}</ref>
* In the ''[[Wild Cards]]'' book series, edited by [[George R. R. Martin]] with assistance by [[Melinda Snodgrass]], [[Popinjay (Wild Cards)|Jay Ackroyd]] often uses his wild card power to teleport his enemies to the Tombs.
* The Tombs is the setting for the endings of two works by [[Herman Melville]]: ''[[Pierre: or, The Ambiguities]]'' and ''[[Bartleby, the Scrivener]]''. Bartleby, apparently by willful starvation, dies on the grassy ground of an open yard in the prison, prompting his former employer to famously exclaim, "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!"
* The Tombs is the setting of the [[Short Eyes (play)|play]] ''Short Eyes'' by [[Miguel Piñero]] and its [[Short Eyes (1977 film)|film adaptation]].
* The Tombs provides the setting for [[Harry Steeger]]'s 1937 [[Pulp fiction (genre)|pulp fiction]] story "Dictator of the Damned", in which [[The Spider]] stages a daring raid to help exonerate an innocent man.
* Eric Carter, the main character of [[Richard Price (writer)|Richard Price]]'s novel ''[[Lush Life (novel)|Lush Life]]'', is incarcerated in the Tombs.
* In ''[[The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today]],'' a novel by [[Mark Twain]] and [[Charles Dudley Warner]] published in 1873, the characters Laura Hawkins and Henry (Harry) Brierly are held in the Tombs after the former had shot a man dead in a New York hotel.
* [[Front de Liberation du Quebec]] member [[Pierre Vallieres]] wrote ''[[White Niggers of America]]'' while incarcerated in the Tombs for [[manslaughter]].

'''Music'''
* [[Jim Carroll]] mentions in his song "[[People Who Died (song)|People Who Died]]" that his friend Bobby committed [[suicide]] by hanging while in The Tombs. Carroll also mentions The Tombs in his song "[[Catholic Boy]]".
* [[Paul Simon]]'s song "[[Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard]]" includes a threat from the protagonist's father of being placed in the "House of Detention."
* With many elegiac songs about the Lower East Side, New York Hardcore band [[Agnostic Front]] has a song called "The Tombs" on their album ''One Voice''.

'''Radio'''
* In November 2000, 16 people associated with the ''[[Opie and Anthony]]'' radio show were arrested and held in The Tombs overnight during a promotion for [https://web.archive.org/web/20010118214900/http://www.voyeurbus.com/ "The Voyeur Bus"], a mostly glass bus carting topless women through [[Manhattan]] with a police escort.<ref>{{cite news | first=William | last=Rashbaum | title=Escort of Voyeur Bus Suspended by Police | date=February 12, 2000 |url =https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F0081FFC34590C718CDDAB0994D8404482 | work=The New York Times | access-date = July 5, 2007 }}</ref>

'''Television'''
<!--Alphabetical by series title-->
* In the TV sitcoms ''[[Night Court]]'' and ''[[Barney Miller]]'', the officers frequently mention that they will take an arrestee to The Tombs.
* The Tombs are featured in season 1 of the 2012 historical drama ''[[Copper (TV series)|Copper]]'' on [[BBC America]].
* The TV dramas ''[[Blue Bloods (TV series)|Blue Bloods]]'', ''[[NYPD Blue]]'', ''[[Law & Order]]'', ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]'', and ''[[Castle (TV series)|Castle]]'' regularly make references to The Tombs. In the ''SVU'' episode "Stranger", someone impersonating a long-missing daughter is sent to the Tombs, with the scene-change reading "MANHATTAN DETENTION COMPLEX" and the street address (125 WHITE STREET), as well as the usual inclusion of the calendar date.
* The short-lived comedy-drama ''[[The Unusuals]]'' mentioned the Tombs in several episodes.
* In the animated TV series ''[[Archer (2009 TV series)|Archer]]'', the character Cyril mentions "spending the night in The Tombs, getting worked over by the cops" in the season 2 episode "[[Archer episode list|Stage Two]]".
* In ''[[The Newsroom (U.S. TV series)|The Newsroom]]'' episode "Oh Shenandoah," Will McAvoy is held at the Manhattan Detention Complex as a result of his contempt citation.
* The Tombs also appears in the TV series ''[[The Night Of]]'' when the main character played by [[Riz Ahmed]] is sent there for murder.
* The Tombs are seen and referenced to in several episodes of the TV drama ''[[Kojak]]''.
* During the second-season premiere of ''[[Crossing Lines]]'', Detective Carl Hickman (played by [[William Fichtner]]) tells his nemesis Phillip Genovese (played by [[Kim Coates]]) that he will personally come back to New York to see Genovese take 'that last, long walk' to The Tombs.


==References==
==References==
'''Notes'''
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


'''Bibliography'''
=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite journal | first = Timothy J. | last = Gilfoyle | title = "America's Greatest Criminal Barracks": The Tombs and the Experience of Criminal Justice in New York City, 1838–1897 | journal = Journal of Urban History | volume = 29 | issue = 5 | year = 2003 | pages = 525–554 | oclc = 88513081 | doi = 10.1177/0096144203029005002 | s2cid = 144410853 }}
* {{cite journal | first = Timothy J. | last = Gilfoyle | title = "America's Greatest Criminal Barracks": The Tombs and the Experience of Criminal Justice in New York City, 1838–1897 | journal = Journal of Urban History | volume = 29 | issue = 5 | year = 2003 | pages = 525–554 | oclc = 88513081 | doi = 10.1177/0096144203029005002 | s2cid = 144410853 }}
* {{cite book | last = Roth | first = Mitchel P. | title = Prisons and Prison Systems: A Global Encyclopedia | location = Westport, Connecticut | publisher = Greenwood Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-313-32856-5 | oclc = 60835344 }}
* {{cite book | last = Roth | first = Mitchel p. | title = Prisons and Prison Systems: A Global Encyclopedia | location = Westport, Connecticut | publisher = Greenwood Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-313-32856-5 | oclc = 60835344 }}


== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | chapter-url = http://www.uhb.fr/faulkner/ny/meyerberger1.htm | title = The Eight Million: Journal of a New York Correspondent | chapter = The Tombs | location = New York | publisher = Columbia University Press | orig-year = 1942 | year = 1983 | pages = 23–35 | first = Meyer | last = Berger | edition = Columbia University Press Morningside | isbn = 978-0-231-05710-3 | oclc = 9066227 | access-date = October 10, 2007 }}
* {{cite book | chapter-url = http://www.uhb.fr/faulkner/ny/meyerberger1.htm | title = The Eight Million: Journal of a New York Correspondent | chapter = The Tombs | location = New York | publisher = Columbia University Press | orig-year = 1942 | year = 1983 | pages = 23–35 | first = Meyer | last = Berger | edition = Columbia University Press Morningside | isbn = 978-0-231-05710-3 | oclc = 9066227 | access-date = October 10, 2007 | archive-date = September 27, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194805/http://www.uhb.fr/faulkner/ny/meyerberger1.htm | url-status = dead }}
* {{cite book | author-link = Miriam Allen deFord | last = DeFord | first = Miriam Allen | title = Stone Walls: Prisons from Fetters to Furloughs | location = Philadelphia | publisher = Chilton | year = 1962 | oclc = 378834 }}
* {{cite book | author-link = Miriam Allen deFord | last = DeFord | first = Miriam Allen | title = Stone Walls: Prisons from Fetters to Furloughs | location = Philadelphia | publisher = Chilton | year = 1962 | oclc = 378834 }}
* {{cite book | last = Johnson | first = James A. | title = Forms of Constraint: A History of Prison Architecture | location = Urbana | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-252-02557-0 | oclc = 42434965 }}
* {{cite book | last = Johnson | first = James A. | title = Forms of Constraint: A History of Prison Architecture | location = Urbana | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-252-02557-0 | oclc = 42434965 }}
Line 193: Line 132:
==External links==
==External links==
{{commons category|New York City Criminal Courts Building and The Tombs}}
{{commons category|New York City Criminal Courts Building and The Tombs}}
* [http://www.prisonpro.com/content/manhattan-detention-comples PrisonPro.com: Manhattan Detention Complex]
* [https://www.prisonpro.com/content/manhattan-detention-complex Manhattan Detention Complex] on prisonpro.com
* [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/timeline/html/timeline.html New York Correction History Society timeline (includes photo)]
* [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/timeline/html/timeline.html New York Correction History Society timeline (includes photo)]
* [http://www.nychinatown.org/history/photos/tombs1.html An early engraving by John Poppel]
* [http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/depol/newyork.htm John DePol etching of a later building, 1942]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060820195520/http://www.mcny.org/collections/painting/pttcat13.htm Painting of 1842 fire at The Tombs]
* [http://www.inyc.freeservers.com/custom.html "Irish in New York" site, Census of prisoners in 1860]
* [http://www.inyc.freeservers.com/custom.html "Irish in New York" site, Census of prisoners in 1860]
* [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/bbkcomplex.html Article on the building complex] at the website of the New York Correction History Society
* [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/bbkcomplex.html Article on the building complex] at the website of the New York Correction History Society
{{coord|40|42|59.8|N|74|00|05|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=title}}

{{Chinatown, Manhattan}}
{{Chinatown, Manhattan}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombs, The}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombs, The}}
[[Category:1838 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States]]
[[Category:Five Points, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1838]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1902]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1941]]
[[Category:Government buildings in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Infrastructure completed in 1838]]
[[Category:Infrastructure completed in 1838]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1838]]
[[Category:Infrastructure completed in 1902]]
[[Category:Infrastructure completed in 1902]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1902]]
[[Category:Infrastructure completed in 1941]]
[[Category:Infrastructure completed in 1941]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1941]]
[[Category:Prisons in New York City]]
[[Category:Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States]]
[[Category:Five Points, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Jails in New York City]]
[[Category:Jails in New York City]]
[[Category:1838 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Skyscrapers in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Government buildings in Manhattan]]
[[Category:John Haviland buildings]]
[[Category:John Haviland buildings]]
[[Category:New York City Department of Correction]]
[[Category:New York City Department of Correction]]
[[Category:Prisons in New York City]]
[[Category:Skyscrapers in Manhattan]]

Latest revision as of 01:45, 8 May 2024

For other uses, see The Tombs (disambiguation).

The Tombs
(Manhattan Detention Complex)
The North Tower of the complex as it appeared in 2013
Map
LocationNew York City
StatusActive
Security classMunicipal Jail
Opened1838 (original building)
Former nameHalls of Justice, Manhattan House of Detention
Managed byNew York City Department of Corrections
DirectorCommissioner Joseph Ponte

The Tombs was the colloquial name for Manhattan Detention Complex[1] (formerly the Bernard B. Kerik Complex during 2001–2006[2]), a former municipal jail at 125 White Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It was also the nickname for three previous city-run jails in the former Five Points neighborhood of lower Manhattan, in an area now known as the Civic Center.

The original Tombs was officially known as the Halls of Justice, built in 1838 in an Egyptian Revival architectural style, similar in form to a mastaba.[1] It may have been this style that caused it to be called "the Tombs", although other theories exist. It was built as a replacement for the Colonial-era Bridewell Prison located in City Hall Park, built in 1735. The new structure incorporated material from the demolished Bridewell to save money.[3]

The four buildings known as The Tombs were:

  • 1838–1902, New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention
  • 1902–1941, City Prison
  • 1941–2023, Manhattan House of Detention (became Manhattan Detention Complex South Tower in 1983)
  • 1990–2023, Manhattan Detention Complex North Tower

The two existing buildings began demolition in 2023, in preparation for a planned replacement jail building.

History[edit]

Halls of Justice and House of Detention, 1838–1902[edit]

An Egyptian-Revival-style building on a street corner; there are doric columns on the façade to the right of the image. There are men on the street, and work is being done using cranes, on an adjacent building out of frame to the right.
The original Egyptian-Revival-style Tombs building in a photograph from 1893. Leonard Street, left. Centre Street, right.
An etching of a man and a woman being married in a jail cell. Sunlight streams in through a small window.
Artist's depiction of the wedding of John C. Colt in The Tombs, 1842
Harry Kendall Thaw in his cell, 1912

The first complex to have the nickname was an Egyptian Revival design by John Haviland completed in 1838. There was a rumor at the time that the building was inspired by a picture of an Egyptian tomb that appeared in John Lloyd Stephens' Incidents of Travel in Egypt, although this appears to be untrue.[4][5] The building was 253 feet, 3 inches in length and 200 feet, 5 inches wide, and it occupied a full block, surrounded by Centre Street, Franklin Street, Elm Street (today's Lafayette), and Leonard Street. It initially accommodated about 300 prisoners, and $250,000 was allocated in 1835 to build it, but various cost overruns occurred prior to completion of the project.

The building site had been created by filling in the Collect Pond that was the principal water source for Colonial New York City. Industrialization and population density by the late 18th century resulted in the severe pollution of the Collect, so it was condemned, drained, and filled in by 1817. The landfill job was poorly done, however, and the ground began to subside in less than 10 years. The resulting swampy, foul-smelling conditions transformed the neighborhood into a slum known as Five Points by the time that prison construction started in 1838. The heavy masonry of Haviland's design was built atop vertical piles of lashed hemlock tree trunks in a bid for stability, but the entire structure began to sink soon after it was opened. This damp foundation was primarily responsible for its unsanitary conditions in the decades that followed. Charles Dickens wrote about the jail in American Notes: "Such indecent and disgusting dungeons as these cells, would bring disgrace upon the most despotic empire in the world!"[6]

The Tombs' formal title was The New York Halls of Justice and House of Detention, as it housed the city's courts, police, and detention facilities. It was a notable example of Egyptian Revival architecture, although opinion varied greatly concerning its actual merit. As Dickens wrote: "What is this dismal fronted pile of bastard Egyptian, like an enchanter's palace in a melodrama?"

The prison was well known for its corruption and was the scene of numerous scandals and escapes during its early history. A fire destroyed part of the building on November 18, 1842, the same day that a notorious killer named John C. Colt was due to be hanged. Apparently it was an escape attempt on Colt's part that failed, and he fatally stabbed himself in his cell.[7] Convicted murderer and New York City politician William J. Sharkey earned national notoriety for escaping from the prison disguised as a woman on November 22, 1872. He was never captured and his fate is unknown.[8]

Rebecca Salome Foster, a prison relief worker and missionary, became known as "the Tombs Angel" for her efforts to help and advocate on behalf of the many poor people held in squalid conditions at the Tombs. A monument to her, built in 1902 and put in storage in 1940, was rededicated in 2019 in the New York State Supreme Court's lobby.[6]

City Prison, 1902–1941[edit]

The "Bridge of Sighs" connecting the 1902 Tombs prison at left with the 1894 Manhattan Criminal Courts building, looking west from Centre Street
The Bridge of Sighs c. 1896

In 1902, the 1838 building was replaced by a million-dollar City Prison featuring an eight-story Châteauesque facade with conical towers along Centre Street, bounded by Centre Street, White Street, Elm Street (today's Lafayette), and Leonard Street.[9]

The architects were Frederick Clarke Withers and Walter Dickson from Albany, who had been partners since the 1880s. This was their final major commission. In September 1900, the architects complained that construction would be delayed for a year and cost an additional $250,000 due to the unnecessary insertion of corrupt Tammany Hall architects Horgan and Slattery into the project.[10]

The building was connected to the 1892 Manhattan Criminal Courts Building with a "Bridge of Sighs", crossing four stories above Franklin Street. There was also an Annex with another 144 cells that was finished in 1884.

Manhattan House of Detention, 1941–1974[edit]

The Manhattan House of Detention (left) was built in 1941, at the same time as the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse (right). It became the South Tower of the expanded and renamed Manhattan Detention Complex once the new North Tower opened in 1990.

The 1902 prison was replaced in 1941 by a high-rise facility across the street on the east side of Centre Street. The 795,000 square foot[11] Art Deco architecture facility was designed by architects Harvey Wiley Corbett and Charles B. Meyers.[12][13]

The facility is the northernmost of the four 15-story towers of the New York City Criminal Courts Building at 100 Centre Street, bounded by Centre Street, White Street, Baxter Street, and Hogan Place. The three southern towers are wings of a single integrated structure sharing a five-story "crown"[14] which house the city's Criminal and Supreme Courts, city offices, and various departments, including the headquarters of the Department of Corrections. The northern tower is freestanding, with the separate address of 125 White Street. It was officially named the Manhattan House of Detention for Men (MHD), although it was still referred to popularly as The Tombs.

By 1969, the Tombs ranked as the worst of the city's jails, both in overall conditions and in overcrowding. It held an average of 2,000 inmates in spaces designed for 925.[15] Inmates rioted on August 10, 1970, after multiple warnings about falling budgets, aging facilities, and rising populations, and after an informational picket of City Hall by union correctional officers drawing attention to the pressures. Rioters took command of the entire ninth floor, and five officers were held hostage for eight hours, until state officials agreed to hear prisoner grievances and take no punitive action against the rioters.[16] Despite that promise, Mayor John Lindsay had the primary troublemakers shipped upstate to the state's Attica Correctional Facility which likely contributed to the Attica Prison riot about a year later.[17]

Within a month after the riot, the New York City Legal Aid Society filed a landmark class action suit on behalf of pre-trial detainees held in the Tombs. The city decided to close the Tombs on December 20, 1974, after years of litigation and after federal judge Morris E. Lasker agreed that the prison's conditions were so bad as to be unconstitutional. They shipped the remaining 400 inmates to Rikers Island, where conditions were not much better.[18]

Manhattan Detention Complex, 1983–2023[edit]

The Manhattan Detention Complex consisted of a South Tower, the former Manhattan House of Detention remodeled and reopened in 1983, and a North Tower across White Street, completed in 1990. The complex housed only male inmates, most of them pretrial detainees. The total capacity of the two buildings was nearly 900 people.[19]

The jail was named The Bernard B. Kerik Complex in December 2001 at the direction of New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani.[2] Kerik was commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections from 1998 to 2000[20][1] before becoming police commissioner.[20] New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered Kerik's name removed after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in 2006, committed during his tenure as a city employee.[1]

In 2019, the New York City Council announced plans to build four new jails citywide to replace Rikers Island, including a high-rise jail tower on the site of the Tombs.[21] The New York Daily News reported that the city planned to close the complex prior to the end of November 2020.[22] The demolition of the Tombs attracted criticism from landlords, local residents, and prison-reform advocates.[21][23] Opponents claimed the redevelopment would harm local residents and businesses.[21] An injunction preventing the jail tower's construction was issued by the New York Supreme Court in 2020 but was overturned the next year.[24] Two artists also filed a lawsuit to preserve artwork that was displayed on the Tombs' facade, but U.S. district judge Lewis A. Kaplan declined to grant an injunction,[25] and seven murals were subsequently removed.[26] The demolition of the Tombs was finally approved in April 2023[27][28] but was paused after further objections.[29] Demolition continued despite objection by local residents.[30]

Notable people[edit]

In November 2000, 16 people associated with the Opie and Anthony radio show were arrested and held in The Tombs overnight during a promotion for "The Voyeur Bus", a mostly glass bus carting topless women through Manhattan with a police escort.[31]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Chan, Sewell (July 3, 2006). "Disgraced and Penalized, Kerik Finds His Name Stripped Off Jail". New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Mayor Giuliani and Correction Commissioner Fraser rename the Manhattan Detention Complex 'The Bernard B. Kerik Complex'" (Press release). City of New York. December 12, 2001. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Carrott, Richard G. (1978). The Egyptian revival: its sources, monuments, and meaning, 1808–1858. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0520033245. LCCN 76024579. OCLC 633069010.
  4. ^ "Doom of the Old Tombs; Soon to be Removed to Make Way for New Prison". The New York Times (July 4, 1896)
  5. ^ Carrott, Richard G. The Egyptian Revival: Its Sources, Monuments, and Meaning, 1808–1858. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1978. p. 165
  6. ^ a b Libbey, Peter (June 16, 2019). "New York's Tribute to the 'Tombs Angel': Lost, Found, Now Restored". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  7. ^ Kernan, J. Frank. Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York p. 220
  8. ^ Walling, George W. Recollections of a New York Chief of Police. New York: Caxton Book Concern, Ltd., 1887. pp. 292–296.
  9. ^ http://www.nyc-architecture.com/IM-111002/110927-GON072-04.jpg [bare URL image file]
  10. ^ "City Prison Alterations", The New York Times, September 7, 1900
  11. ^ http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202475526745/One-Month-After-Blaze-at-Key-NYC-Couthouse,-Miseries-Continue?slreturn=20140126031806 [dead link]
  12. ^ Wolfe, Gerard R. (2003) New York, 15 Walking Tours: An Architectural Guide to the Metropolis. (New York: McGraw-Hill Professional (ISBN 0071411852 ), p. 102
  13. ^ Department of Citywide Administrative Services, City of New York. "Manhattan Criminal Court Building". Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  14. ^ "Criminal Courts Building, New York City". SkyscraperPage.com. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  15. ^ Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 140
  16. ^ Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 143
  17. ^ States of Siege : U.S. Prison Riots, 1971–1986, by Public Safety Research at the Urban Research Institute University of Louisville, page 26
  18. ^ Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial ... edited by John J. DiIulio, page 149
  19. ^ "Facilities Overview – Department of Correction". City of New York. Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2018. Manhattan Detention Complex – capacity: 898. This lower Manhattan command consists of two buildings designated the North and South Towers, connected by a bridge. The North Tower was opened in 1990. The South Tower, formerly the Manhattan House of Detention, or the "Tombs," was opened in 1983, after a complete remodeling. The complex houses male detainees, most of them undergoing the intake process or facing trial in New York County (Manhattan).
  20. ^ a b "Bernard Kerik Fast Facts". CNN. March 4, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  21. ^ a b c Poon, Linda (June 17, 2022). "Rikers Jail Replacement Plan Pits Chinatown Against New York City". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  22. ^ Marcius, Chelsia Rose (October 9, 2020). "NYC to close two city jails by November: 'The Tombs' in Lower Manhattan and a jail on Rikers Island". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  23. ^ Chan, Wilfred (August 21, 2023). "New York is building the world's tallest jail in Chinatown. Can anyone stop it?". the Guardian. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  24. ^ Insider, Business (April 22, 2022). "Residents fight plans for 'mega jail' in New York City's Chinatown". South China Morning Post. Retrieved March 2, 2024. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  25. ^ Small, Zachary (May 19, 2022). "Demolition for Jail Can Go Forward, Judge Rules in a Suit Brought by Artists". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  26. ^ Duddridge, Natalie (November 10, 2023). "Artists mourn loss of Manhattan Detention Center murals as buildings are demolished". CBS New York. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  27. ^ "Demolition to start on White Street jails". Tribeca Citizen. April 20, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  28. ^ Garber, Nick (April 20, 2023). "Teardown of Manhattan jail set to begin amid Rikers uncertainty". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  29. ^ Johnson, Stephon (April 26, 2023). "City Hits Pause on Demolition of Manhattan Detention Center After Outcry From Locals". THE CITY – NYC News. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  30. ^ Chen, Stefanos; Chan, Mable (April 1, 2024). "Anger in New York Over Huge Chinatown Jail Project". The New York Times. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  31. ^ Rashbaum, William (February 12, 2000). "Escort of Voyeur Bus Suspended by Police". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2007.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New York City Criminal Courts Building and The Tombs.

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