Councilmember Mealy questions Crossroads detention facility beds and conditions
Mealy raises concerns about youth sleeping on the floor at Crossroads and questions the three-bed expansion. Jones-Gaston denies anyone sleeps on the floor. Ginsberg clarifies plans for 28 additional beds at Crossroads with two new halls and classroom space, separate from the 6-to-9-bed non-secure conversion.
Okay, Councilmember Mealy, followed by Councilmember Brewer.
Yes, congratulations.
Thank you, Chairs, for this great hearing.
I want to concur with my colleague, Juan, in regards to juvenile.
You said most of this funding will support administrative and operation costs.
Including supplies, maintenance, and repairs that are not capital eligible at the Crossroad Detention Center in Brooklyn.
A portion of these funds, at least a half a million, which is baseline now,
in fiscal 27 will support three additional beds in non-secure detention facilities.
I'm glad to hear that the half a million is going in because I have to now, I put funding in with Ready, Willing, and Able to clean all around that detention center.
I think you'll have to look into that to see when they're going to be moving the cars and make sure that area is
Neat.
I'm making sure that area is.
And I just was there last year in regards to the last administration.
We put in, I was going to put in about $5 million this year, and last administration had some from Omni.
To build a whole new bedding facility there.
And now I'm hearing you're only doing three beds in a non-secure.
We had the contractors there.
We was taking one of the courts, because they have at least about three courts in it, and we said we could take one of the courts to make sure
that our young men are not sleeping on the floor, in which I went myself walking through, numerous of our young people are sleeping on the floor.
And now to hear that y'all put money in, a million, to put it in for some of the classrooms, to 20 to 40 classrooms,
Isn't this kind of a mix-up?
Yeah, I think we can explain some of it, and then I'll turn it over to Deputy Commissioner Ginsburg.
So the plan you're talking about, so first of all, I want to state, first of all, no child, young person is sleeping on the floor.
I was there myself.
Some young people have temporary beds, but nobody is sleeping on the floor.
They have chairs.
They put the chairs together to sleep in.
No, no, no.
No, they are giving out beds.
We should do a walkthrough, really.
We'd be happy to.
do that for sure.
Sometimes it's at major capacity and that's why they don't have enough beds.
So that's why we put more money in to make sure that no one is.
And I gotta say Crossroads sometimes have more employees than
our young people in there.
So it fluctuates, but recently it's been almost 90%.
So we are building a temporary structure at Crossroads.
Three beds.
No, no, no.
So the three beds is different.
So last year's budget included funding, capital funding,
either capital expense, Margaret will correct me, to do expense funding to do a somewhat temporary facility at Crossroads to address capacity.
This year's budget includes funding unrelated to Crossroads and unrelated to secure detention.
To take a non-secure detention facility and make it a slightly large, serve more children for close to home.
So completely separate from Crossroads.
From six to nine beds, but nothing to do with Crossroads.
Crossroads, do you want to talk more?
You guys are on the best.
So at Crossroads, we are planning to build an additional 28 beds.
There you go.
That will be two halls.
Each hall will have education and programming space.
We are also planning for additional classroom space to accommodate the increased population.
Okay, 28 beds sound more like it.
Yes.
Okay.
Okay.
Thank you so much.
We're with you and we appreciated your visit and you're welcome to come back anytime.
Please think about the maintenance around the facility.
It's the eyesore on the community because they never move the cars.
The 73rd precinct is right next.
Cross the street.
They don't move their cars, so I have to put funds just to make sure that the community look nice.
We appreciate your partnership on that.
We are struggling with the fact that we are a 24-7 operation.
And our staff needs some place to park their cars.
But sometime we got to take up one side of the month and just ask everyone to move it to the next side of the floor.
You know, on the street.
Because I see the DYCD mob coming in, so we do have to start wrapping it up.
Thank you.