In a Feb. 4 announcement seeking qualified bidders, the New York City Dept. of Design and Construction has taken its first crucial step in the design-build delivery of four new jails to replace the ubiquitous Rikers Island facility—potentially changing the local criminal justice system and providing a litmus test for the city's use of this project delivery approach.
The RFQs serve to short-list three vendors for each of four facilities, each worth $1 billion, with the total replacement project worth $8.9 billion: to dismantle the Rikers jail, build a temporary facility, design and construct a new Manhattan jail; clear an old facility in the Bronx and build a new one; and to design and build new jails in Brooklyn and Queens.