The Tombs
Encyclopedia
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
at 125 White Street, as well as the popular name of a series of preceding downtown jails, the first of which was built in 1838 in the Egyptian Revival
Egyptian Revival architecture
Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile during 1798....
style of architecture.
The nickname has been used for several city-run jails in lower Manhattan in the former Five Points neighborhood, an area now known as the Civic Center
Civic Center, Manhattan
Civic Center is a neighborhood in downtown Manhattan covering the area around New York City Hall. It is bounded on the west by Broadway, on the north by Chinatown, on the east by the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge, and on the south by the Financial District.As in other civic centers, it is the...
. The original Tombs officially known as the Halls of Justice was built as a replacement for the colonial era Bridewell Prison located in what is today City Hall Park. Originally $250,000 was allocated in 1835 to build the Tombs, however various cost overuns occurred prior to completion of the project. The new structure incorporated material from the Bridewell ( built 1735 and demolished in 1838), mainly the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, to save money.
A mausoleum for the living
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
. The building was 253 feet, 3 inches in length by 200 feet, 5 inches wide and it occupied a full block, surrounded by Centre, Franklin, Elm (today's Lafayette), and Leonard Streets. It initially accommodated about 300 prisoners.
The block on which the building stood had been created in by the filling-in of the Collect Pond, a freshwater pond that had once been the principal water source for colonial New York City. Industrialization and population density by the late 18th century resulted in the severe pollution of the Collect and it was condemned, drained and filled in by 1817. The landfill job was poorly done and in a span of less than ten years the ground began to subside.
The resulting swampy, foul-smelling conditions had already resulted in the quick transformation of the neighborhood into a slum known as Five Points
Five Points, Manhattan
Five Points was a neighborhood in central lower Manhattan in New York City. The neighborhood was generally defined as being bound by Centre Street in the west, The Bowery in the east, Canal Street in the north and Park Row in the south...
by the time construction of the prison started in 1838. The enormous, heavy masonry of Haviland's building was built atop vertical "piles" of gigantic lashed hemlock tree trunks in a bid for stability, but the entire structure began to sink soon after it was opened. This damp foundation was primarily responsible for its bad reputation as being unsanitary during the decades to come.
As it also housed the city's courts, police, and detention facilities, The Tombs' more formal title was The New York Halls of Justice and House of Detention. Some regarded it as a notable example of Egyptian Revival architecture
Egyptian Revival architecture
Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile during 1798....
in the U.S., but opinion varied greatly concerning its actual merit. "What is this dismal fronted pile of bastard Egyptian, like an enchanter's palace in a melodrama?", asked Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
in his American Notes
American Notes
American Notes for General Circulation is a travelogue by Charles Dickens detailing his trip to North America from January to June, 1842. While there he acted as a critical observer of these societies almost as if returning a status report on their progress...
of 1842.
The prison was well known for its corruption and was the scene of numerous scandals and successful prison escapes during its early history. By 1850, many people were calling for its destruction.
By the early 20th century, reforms began to be made as the first prison school for younger inmates in an American adult correction facility was established by the Public Schools Association in 1900.
The original building was replaced in 1902 with a new one on the same site connected by a "Bridge of Sighs
Bridge of Sighs
The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge in Venice, northern Italy . The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone and has windows with stone bars. It passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace...
" to the Criminal Courts Building on the Franklin Street side. That building was replaced in 1941 by one across the street on the east side of Cetre Street with the entrance at 125 White Street, officially named the Manhattan House of Detention, though still referred to popularly as "The Tombs".
Part of "the Tombs" was eventually closed in 1974 for security and health reasons. Soon thereafter, the structure was demolished and replaced with another building. The current jail comprises two buildings connected by a pedestrian bridge—a 381 bed tower that is the remaining part of the 1941 building at 100 Centre Street (completely remodeled in 1983), and a 500-bed tower north of it, opened in 1990.
The current "Tombs" jail was named The Bernard B. Kerik
Bernard Kerik
Bernard Bailey "Bernie" Kerik is a former New York City Police Commissioner, Secretary of Homeland Security nominee, and now a federal felon. Kerik was New York City Police Commissioner from 2000 to 2001, under Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In December 2004, President George W. Bush nominated Kerik as...
Complex in December 2001 at the direction of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani; Kerik had been a well-regarded corrections commissioner from 1998-2000 before becoming police commissioner. After Kerik's 2006 plea bargain admitting to two misdemeanor ethics violations dating from his tenure as a city employee, Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
ordered his name removed.
In summary:
- Tombs I, 1838–1902, New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention, building by John Haviland
- Tombs II, 1902–1941, Manhattan House of Detention
- Tombs III, 1941–1974, Manhattan House of Detention
- Tombs IV, 1974–present, Manhattan Detention Complex (Bernard B. Kerik Complex 2001-2006)
In popular culture
- The Tombs is the setting of the playShort Eyes (play)Short Eyes is a 1974 drama written by playwright Miguel Piñero. The play premiered off-Broadway at the Joseph Papp Public Theater on 28 February 1974, and transferred after 54 performances to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on Broadway on 23 May 1974...
Short Eyes by Miguel PiñeroMiguel PiñeroMiguel Piñero was a Puerto Rican playwright, actor, and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café. He was a leading member of the Nuyorican literary movement.-Early years:...
and its film adaptationShort Eyes (1977 film)Short Eyes is a 1977 American film adaptation of the Miguel Piñero play of the same title, directed by Robert M. Young.-Plot:Short Eyes is set in an unnamed House of Detention in New York City, the prisoners of which are predominately black or Puerto Rican. One day, a new prisoner is brought in:...
. - The Tombs is the setting for the endings of two works by Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleHerman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
: Pierre: or, The AmbiguitiesPierre: or, The AmbiguitiesPierre: or, The Ambiguities is a novel written by Herman Melville, and published in 1852 by Harper & Brothers.The publication of Pierre was a critical and financial disaster for Melville. It was universally condemned for both its morals and its style...
and Bartleby the ScrivenerBartleby the ScrivenerBartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street is a short story by the American novelist Herman Melville . It first appeared anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 editions of Putnam's Magazine, and was reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in...
. Bartleby, apparently by willful starvation, dies on the grassy ground of an open yard in the prison, prompting his former employer to famously exclaim, "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!". - William Burroughs refers to The Tombs in his semi-autobiographical book Junkie.
- The Tombs provides the setting of the 1937 pulp fiction story "Dictator of the Damned," in which The SpiderThe SpiderThe Spider was one of the major pulp magazine heroes of the 1930s and 1940s.- Background :The Spider was created by Harry Steeger at Popular Publications in 1933 as competition to Street and Smith Publications' vigilante hero, The Shadow...
stages a daring raid to help exonerate an innocent man. - In the TV sitcom Barney MillerBarney MillerBarney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
, the officers frequently mention that they will take an arrestee to The Tombs. - Jim CarrollJim CarrollJames Dennis "Jim" Carroll was an author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was made into the 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.-Biography:Carroll was born to a...
mentions in his song "People Who Died" that his friend Bobby committed suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by hanging in the Tombs. - TV dramas Law & OrderLaw & OrderLaw & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
and Law & Order: SVU regularly make references to The Tombs. - In his autobiographical novel Memos from PurgatoryMemos from PurgatoryMemos from Purgatory is Harlan Ellison's account of his experience with kid gangs when he joined one to research them for his first novel, Web of the City...
, Harlan EllisonHarlan EllisonHarlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
describes his brief incarceration in The Tombs following his arrest for possession of a firearm that he had used as a prop while lecturing. - In November 2000, 16 people associated with the Opie and AnthonyOpie and AnthonyOpie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
radio show were arrested and held in The Tombs overnight during a promotion for "The Voyeur Bus", a mostly glass bus carting topless women through ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
with a police escort. - Eric Carter, the main character of Richard PriceRichard PriceRichard Price was a British moral philosopher and preacher in the tradition of English Dissenters, and a political pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the American Revolution. He fostered connections between a large number of people, including writers of the...
's novel Lush LifeLush Life (novel)Lush Life is a contemporary social novel by Richard Price. It is Price's eighth novel, and was published in 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.-Plot summary:...
, is incarcerated in the Tombs. - Towards the end of the movie American Gangster, Denzel WashingtonDenzel WashingtonDenzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
's character, Frank LucasFrank Lucas (drug lord)Frank Lucas is a former U.S. heroin dealer and organized crime boss who operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle...
, is seen leaving prison after a 15-year sentence. This scene was filmed at the Tombs, although in real life prisoners are held there for relatively brief stays (arraignments, trials, etc.). - The Tombs are referenced in the 2000 remakeShaft (2000 film)Shaft is a 2000 American action-crime film directed by John Singleton, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Pat Hingle, Toni Collette, Busta Rhymes, Vanessa L. Williams, and Mekhi Phifer. This film is not a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, but rather a sequel,...
of ShaftShaft (1971 film)Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob neighborhoods in order to find the...
, featuring Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
. - In the Wild CardsWild CardsWild Cards is a science fiction and superhero anthology series set in a shared universe. The series was created by a group of New Mexico science fiction authors, but it is mostly pulled together and edited by best-selling author George R. R. Martin with assistance by Melinda Snodgrass, also a...
book series, Jay AckroydPopinjay (Wild Cards)Jay "Popinjay" Ackroyd is a character from the Wild Cards series of books.-Powers:As an Ace , Jay can teleport people and things anywhere he can clearly visualize Jay "Popinjay" Ackroyd is a character from the Wild Cards series of books.-Powers:As an Ace (a Wild Card victim with powers, but...
often uses his wild card power to teleport his enemies to the Tombs.