Abandoned Chinatown residents sue to stop NYC megajail construction: Cruel and inhumane

Chinatown residents filed suit to try to stop the city from building a new “megajail” in their neighborhood — arguing that subjecting them to nearly round-the-clock construction noises for the next six years was “inhumane and cruel.” Construction has been ongoing for 18 hours-a-day on weekdays — and 8 hours-a-day on weekends — since October 12 as part of a new building schedule for the 16-story “jailscraper” next door to Manhattan Criminal Court on Centre Street, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday.“Our culture believes in honoring our elders.Subjecting them to around-the-clock drilling and construction through their final years is inhumane and cruel,” said Vic Lee, founder and CEO of Welcome to Chinatown, a community group behind the suit.“We believe in closing Rikers, but its closure should not cause more marginalized communities to suffer,” Lee said.The new schedule is part of the $16 billion plan to close Rikers Island and replace it with five borough-based jails.City officials said the extended hours will shave two years off the timeline for erecting the Chinatown jail and that it could wrap by 2032, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.

But community members argued in the suit the burden for nearby residents — including a senior center — was too big to bear, and should trigger a new environmental review process by the city.“This new schedule represents more than a doubling of construction intensity as opposed to what was studied — and over twice as long a construction period,” the suit claims.Many of the plaintiffs are seniors who said they’re now suffering from the new overnight lighting at the construction site, heavy excavation noise, continuous motor idling and build-up of dust.Several residents claimed the noise is already unbearable since the new all-night plan — with weekday work running from 6 a.m.to midnight — went into effect 10 days ago, according to the suit.

One of the plaintiffs in the sui...