“New NYU Findings Raise Serious Questions About Chinatown Jail Construction Impacts”
/For years, Chinatown residents have raised concerns about the environmental and health impacts tied to the Manhattan Borough Based Jail project. Those concerns are no longer theoretical. Construction activity has intensified, excavation work is advancing, and residents living closest to the site are already experiencing the effects of dust, noise, vibration, truck traffic, and prolonged disruption in one of the most densely populated residential neighborhoods in New York City.
On Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 5:00 PM, Neighbors United Below Canal (NUBC), together with Welcome to Chinatown and Downtown Community Television DCTV, will present researchers from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH), at a public Environmental Health Town Hall at DCTV Firehouse Cinema in Chinatown.
At the center of the discussion will be the release of a new Environmental Health Impact Assessment Report prepared by researchers affiliated with NYU Grossman School of Medicine. The report independently reviews environmental monitoring data tied to the demolition phase of the Manhattan Detention Complex project and raises serious questions about gaps in public health protections, environmental transparency, and the adequacy of current monitoring practices surrounding the site.
The Town Hall comes at a critical moment. The City continues to move forward with a jail plan first initiated 2 mayoral administrations ago, including what has widely been described as the tallest jail in the world. At the same time, residents remain deeply concerned about the long term consequences of years of construction activity directly adjacent to homes, schools, senior housing, small businesses, and public gathering spaces in Chinatown.
Before becoming Mayor, Zohran Mamdani toured Chinatown with Assemblymember Grace Lee, with Jan Lee of NUBC and Vic Lee of Welcome to Chinatown, where he heard more about the need to build affordable housing in the community. The last affordable housing to be built in Chinatown was Confucius Plaza a 700 unit complex, built 50 years ago.
NUBC will also present its alternative vision for the site. Rather than constructing a megajail in the heart of a residential neighborhood, the coalition continues to advocate for relocating the facility to the nearby civic center area on Park Row, away from residential blocks, while bringing more than 700 units of affordable housing and publicly accessible open space to the current site.
The evening will feature researchers, medical professionals, environmental experts, community advocates, and residents directly affected by jail construction. Presenters will discuss newly released findings on air quality monitoring, environmental exposure concerns, and the broader public health implications for Chinatown residents as construction accelerates. Adding to the community’s concerns is the alarming news uncovered in an award-winning article in the Construction Dive industry magazine that Tutor Perini, the contractor building 50% of NYC's borough-based jails, including the Chinatown megajail, has an abysmal track record with OSHA and the federal government.
Featured speakers will include Yi Ling Tan of NYU CSAAH, who will discuss the broader history of community health research in Chinatown and the urgency behind the newly released findings. Researchers Tri Huynh and Antonio Saporito of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine Division of Environmental Medicine will present their analysis of construction related air quality data and recommendations for strengthening protections around the site.
Dr. Elaine Shum, a cardiothoracic surgeon at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, will discuss patterns in lung cancer incidence among non smoking Asian American women and the health concerns that demanded further scientific investigation into environmental exposures affecting Chinatown residents.
Beatrice Chen of Immigrant Social Services will address the on the ground realities facing residents and elderly populations living near the construction zone, including many residents within one of the largest Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities in New York City.
The program will also feature testimony from Brooklyn resident Lori Richmond, who will speak about her family’s experience living beside the borough jail construction site there, offering a firsthand account of the disruptions and impacts Chinatown residents fear may intensify in the years ahead.
Speakers will also address why many residents believe stronger protections are urgently needed, including demands for real time public release of environmental monitoring data and no after hours construction variances beyond the assumptions outlined in the City’s original environmental review documents.
NUBC Co Founder Jan Lee will moderate the discussion.
“We have spent years calling for independent environmental oversight at this site, and we recently learned that the City has agreed to implement an independent environmental monitor throughout construction at the Manhattan jail site. That is an important victory for the community and for the residents who refused to stay silent on these issues,” said Lee. “At the same time, major questions still remain about the scope of the monitoring, whether the City will continue collecting its own environmental data once major construction begins, and if so, whether that data will be shared publicly so it can be independently compared against the monitor’s findings.”
The event will take place at DCTV Firehouse Cinema, a longstanding cultural institution that has documented community life and public issues in Chinatown for decades. The Town Hall will also be livestreamed for viewers unable to attend in person.
The powerful image featured on the event flyer, showing a Chinatown resident shielding himself from construction dust, was photographed on Baxter Street by longtime Chinatown photographer Joseph Hsu, whose work has documented neighborhood conditions and change across multiple decades.
Residents, members of the press, elected officials, medical professionals, and community stakeholders are encouraged to attend.
Event Details
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
5:00 PM
Location:
DCTV Firehouse Cinema
Seating is limited. RSVP required.
nubc2019@gmail.com
About Neighbors United Below Canal (NUBC)
Neighbors United Below Canal is a coalition of Chinatown residents, small businesses, architects, engineers, attorneys, planners, and civic advocates formed in 2019 in response to the proposed Manhattan Borough Based Jail project. The organization has led research, legal challenges, public education efforts, and advocacy focused on the environmental, health, and neighborhood impacts of the project while advancing alternative community centered proposals for the site.