Chinatown residents have gone to court in an effort to halt construction of a new “megajail” in their neighborhood, arguing that the city’s plan would subject the community to almost nonstop construction noise for six years and amount to “inhumane and cruel” treatment.
A lawsuit filed Wednesday says work at the planned 16-story “jailscraper,” located beside Manhattan Criminal Court on Centre Street, has been taking place for as many as 18 hours a day on weekdays and eight hours each day on weekends since Oct. 12.
“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, the community organization leading the legal challenge.
Lee said the group supports closing Rikers Island, but argued that doing so should not force another marginalized neighborhood to bear the consequences.
The expanded construction schedule is tied to the city’s $16 billion effort to shut down Rikers Island and replace it with five borough-based detention facilities.
According to the Manhattan Supreme Court complaint, city officials say the longer workday will accelerate construction by two years, allowing the Chinatown jail to be completed as early as 2032.
Residents counter that the impact on people living nearby — including those at a senior center — is overwhelming. They say the sharply increased activity should require the city to conduct a new environmental review.
The lawsuit describes the revised plan as “more than a doubling of construction intensity” compared with the schedule previously studied, while also extending the disruption for more than twice as long.
Many of the plaintiffs are older residents who say the project has brought intrusive overnight lights, intense excavation noise, idling engines and clouds of construction dust into their daily lives.
Several residents said the noise became intolerable after the around-the-clock construction plan began. Under the weekday schedule, work continues from 6 a.m. until midnight, the complaint states.
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Filmmaker Jon Alpert, one of the plaintiffs, said the construction has severely disrupted his health as he recovers from treatment for prostate cancer connected to his 9/11-related illnesses.
The complaint says Alpert can no longer sleep through a normal night because “pounding” begins before sunrise. It also alleges that several inches of construction dust have accumulated inside his Lafayette Street home.
Alpert, 77, said he has repeatedly raised his concerns with city officials and elected representatives, but that his complaints have produced “no avail.”
City Councilmember Chris Marte, who represents the area, accused City Hall of turning its back on Chinatown.
“This unilateral move to work overnight and on weekends serves as the latest example of the City’s prioritization of a megajail over the health and safety of New Yorkers,” Marte said.
The city says the noisiest portions of the project — including excavation, drilling and concrete work — are scheduled between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. on weekdays. The remaining hours, officials said, are intended for preparation and related tasks.
City Hall also said the site is subject to extensive independent environmental oversight, with equipment tracking vibration, dust and noise. Officials said mufflers and sound blankets are being used to limit the construction impact.
“We will respond to these claims in court,” said mayoral spokesperson Sam Raskin. “The Mamdani administration is committed to meeting our moral and legal obligations to closing the jails on Rikers Island and transitioning to a safer, more humane borough-based correctional system.”
The City Council set a 2027 deadline for closing Rikers in 2019, but Mayor Zohran Mamdani acknowledged this summer that the target would not be achieved. The Post has also reported that the borough-jail plan is already $8 billion over budget.
“We know that Mayor Mamdani didn’t come up with this plan, but we hope he’ll fix it,” Lee said. “The City can close Rikers the right way.”
