This from New York 1:

The Brooklyn jail is not only
set to re-open, it may be expanding after sitting empty on the corner
of Atlantic Avenue for four years.

Despite community protests, the Department of Correction has said
for some time that it plans to reopen the Brooklyn House of Detention
to ease some of the burden on Rikers Island.

But now NY1 has learned that the city also wants to expand the jail
so it can hold as many as 1,500 inmates – almost twice the current
capacity.

Advocates of the plan say the Brooklyn location will make it easier
to transport inmates to their court appearances, but critics say the
jail wasn’t a good neighbor before it closed in 2003.

"There’s a reason why counties have county jails located next to
courthouses. That’s where they should be in the civic center of the
community," said DOC Commissioner Martin Horn.

The Brooklyn jail is actually connected to the nearby court through a tunnel.

Its expansion, in conjunction with a controversial proposal to
build a new jail in the Bronx, is actually part of the city’s plan to
reduce jail capacity because the new jails would clear the way for the
demolition of thousands more cells in rundown Riker’s Island.

"Riker’s island is the wrong place for the City of New York to put
all of its jail beds," said Horn. "It’s connected to the mainland by a
single bridge; it complicates justice by making it very hard to get
inmates back and forth to court everyday."

The shuttered jail is located at Boerum Place and Atlantic Avenue
in Boerum Hill, which is experiencing a housing and commercial boom and
is next to the downtown area that officials want to make into a 24-hour
community.

But the decision is certainly a controversial one as many in this
community say they don’t want a bigger jail in their backyard.

"I think it’s a bad idea with so many young families and children
moving into the neighborhood. Bad idea," said one area resident.

"I think it’s going to be bad, ’cause there’s a lot of children who
live in this neighborhood. A lot of kids around here. It’s going to
really bad, I know that," added another area resident.

But some community groups have been working with the city for over
a year to hammer out some middle ground, including 250,000 square feet
of proposed retail space on the ground floor and an underground garage
as part of the expansion plan.

But they say memories of city cars parked on the sidewalks and
other issues when the jail was last open are still fresh in their
minds.

"It was not kept as clean as it should be. This is a residential
neighborhood there are apartments and condos," said Sue Wolf of the
Boerum Hill Association. "If the commissioner is a good neighbor, I
think it should be fine. If he’s not then we’ll have problems."

But since the Correction Department has the right to reopen the
facility with or without the community’s approval, many are striking a
diplomatic tone.

"I think we have an opportunity to make this a win/win," said
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. "I think it can work for
the Department of Correction and even more important it can work for
the residents of Downtown Brooklyn and even all of Brooklyn."

The expansion of the jail is expected to take around five years,
but the Department of Correction says it could open within 48 hours
notice if the space is needed.