Manhattan Detention Center

 prison, local government, 1990_construction, historical layer / disappeared object, postmodern (architecture)

15-story prison completed in 1990. Designed by Urbahn & Associates with Litchfield-Grosfeld Associates, it replaced the northern half of the 1941 "Tombs" complex. This lower Manhattan command consists of two buildings designated the North and South Towers, connected by a bridge. The North Tower was opened in 1990. The South Tower, formerly the Manhattan House of Detention, was re-opened in 1983, after a complete remodeling. It stands on the site of the former 19th century New york City Jailhouse originally known as "The Tombs". The complex houses male detainees, most of them undergoing the intake process or facing trial in New York County (Manhattan).

The new building it clad in light brown granite at the 2-story base, with darker stone above. The lower level along Baxter Street, as well as a projecting section of the base on Centre Street, are lined with storefronts. The tower rising above the base is L-shaped, fronting White and Centre Streets, and notched corners at the northwest and southeast. The 3rd floor is a tall mechanical floor with large vents. Adjacent to the 2nd-floor skybridge over White Street is a double tower that rises to the highest point of the building. The western of the two abutting towers has narrow, horizontal slit windows, like most of the rest of the upper facades. These windows are divided into bays by rounded piers; rounded piers also framed the two towers. The eastern of the two towers has a vertical columns of metal-screened glass running up its center, flanked by horizontal stone bands on either side. A third, slightly shorter tower on the west facade, adjoining on the north side of the corner tower, also has a vertical band of metal-screened windows running up its center. The top floor is an enclosed, open-air area with lattice-like grids in each bay, and further gridded bars over the roof. There are murals above the storefronts on the east facade.

Its name was changed from the Manhattan Detention Complex in a rededication ceremony Dec. 12, 2001, in recognition of NYPD Commissioner Kerik whose leadership as First Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of DOC was a major factor in the department's historic reduction of inmate violence. After Kerik's 2006 plea bargain admitting to two misdemeanor ethics violations dating from his tenure as a city employee, Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered his name removed.

The ground floor is occupied by China Village Restaurant, Metropharm, and Jaya Malaysian/Thai/Chinese restaurant on Baxter Street, and by Nha Trang Centre Vietnamese restaurant, and Centre Finest Deli.

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