Neighbors United Below Canal (NUBC) represents thousands of stakeholders in the diverse and historic communities below Canal Street and its surrounding areas.
Our coalition includes community organizations, businesses, and activists, with the support of elected officials, working together to protect and preserve our neighborhoods
NUBC stands in unified opposition to Mayor Eric Adams' decision to move forward with the controversial plan to construct the tallest jail in the world—soaring over 300 feet—at 124-125 White Street in Chinatown.
While Adams originally opposed this project on the campaign trail, he has since abandoned that position and is now proceeding with the plan first introduced by Mayor de Blasio. The estimated cost of this megajail has ballooned from $8.7 billion to $16 billion, with construction delays expected to push completion at least five years past the mandated 2026 deadline for closing Rikers Island and replacing it with four borough-based jails.
The new facility would be built on the site currently occupied by The Tombs (built in 1930) and the Manhattan Detention Complex (built in 1988). Its construction would severely impact Chung Pak, a low-income senior residence that was originally a concession when the Manhattan Detention Complex was built in 1988.
While NUBC firmly opposes the construction of any new jails, we are equally committed to advocating for a humane and just criminal justice system. Whether through radical reform or the closure of Rikers Island, meaningful change must be pursued.
A serious, community-driven dialogue must take place regarding the skyrocketing costs of incarceration versus more effective, less costly alternatives—such as prevention, education, drug treatment, and community-based interventions. Justice must consider both the needs of victims and the humanity of those who have committed crimes. We believe that no individual—neither the most wounded victim nor the most hardened offender—should be abandoned by society.
For inquiries, please email us at nubc2019@gmail.com.
Press inquiries: please use this form.
To donate to the legal fund: www.nubcdonate.com.
Header image photo credit: @activistnyc
Excerpt:
“That was my store over there,” Chi Vy Ngo says, pointing to a gutted storefront at 94 Baxter Street. His father, Bo, and his mother, Ky, first opened their restaurant, Bo Ky, in 1986, around the corner on Bayard Street. Ngo had managed it, but after his parents’ deaths and a subsequent sibling dispute, he struck out on his own. He found this space next to the Manhattan Detention Complex, better known as the Tombs, which he liked: right off Canal and a manageable size at 50 seats. He signed a ten-year lease with the city and began renovating in May of 2019. Right away, the restaurant was a hit, beloved by regulars who knew his cooking from the first location and new customers alike. Then came the pandemic, but the death knell arrived soon after when the city expedited construction of the megajail there. “We were open less than a year and they wanted us to move out,” Ngo says. “I had no choice.”
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Big Fight in Little Chinatown - Trailer
A Film By Karen Cho
All across the globe, Chinatowns are under threat of disappearing – and along with them, the rich history of communities who fought from the margins for a place to belong. Big Fight in Little Chinatown is a story of community resistance and resilience. Set against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic and an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian racism, the documentary takes us into the lives of residents, businesses and community organizers whose neighborhoods are facing active erasure.
Big Fight in Little Chinatown documents the collective fight to save Chinatowns across North America.
Coast to coast, the film follows Chinatown communities resisting the pressures around them. From the construction of the world’s largest vertical jail in New York, Montreal’s fight against developers swallowing up the most historic block of their Chinatown, big box chains and gentrification forces displacing Toronto’s community, to a Vancouver Chinatown business holding steadfast, the film reveals how Chinatown is both a stand-in for other communities who’ve been wiped off the city map, and the blueprint for inclusive and resilient neighbourhoods of the future.