The Tombs was the colloquial name for the Manhattan Detention Complex, a municipal jail at 125 White Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It was also the nickname for three previous city-run jails in the former Five Points neighborhood of lower Manhattan, in an area now known as the Civic Center, which encompasses New York City Hall, 1 Police Plaza, the courthouses in Foley Square, and the surrounding area. The original Tombs was officially known as the Halls of Justice, built in 1838 in an Egyptian Revival architectural style, similar in form to a mastaba. It may have been this style that caused it to be called "the Tombs," although other theories exist. Charles Dickens wrote about it in American Notes for General Circulation. The Halls of Justice were built as a replacement for the Colonial-era Bridewell Prison located in City Hall Park, built in 1735. The new structure incorporated material from the demolished Bridewell to save money. The four buildings, over time, known as The Tombs were:
1838–1902, New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention 1902–1941, City Prison 1941–2023, Manhattan House of Detention (which became Manhattan Detention Complex South Tower in 1983) 1990–2023, Manhattan Detention Complex North Tower Briefly the Bernard B. Kerik Complex in 2001–2006, its demolition began on the latter two buildings in 2023, in preparation for a controversial new jail building at the same address.
History
Halls of Justice and House of Detention, 1838–1902
The first complex to have the nickname was an Egyptian Revival design by John Haviland completed in 1838. There was a rumor at the time that the building was inspired by a picture of an Egyptian tomb that appeared in John Lloyd Stephens' Incidents of Travel in Egypt, although this appears to be untrue. The building was 253 feet, 3 inches in length and 200 feet, 5 inches wide, and it occupied a full block, surrounded by Centre Street, Franklin Street, Elm Street (today's Lafayette), and Leonard Street. It initially accommodated about 300 prisoners, and $250,000 was allocated in 1835 to build it. Various cost overruns occurred prior to its completion. The building site had been created by filling in the Collect Pond which was 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, so it was condemned, drained, and filled in by 1817. The landfill job was poorly done, however, and the ground began to subside in less than 10 years. The resulting swampy, foul-smelling conditions transformed the neighborhood into a slum known as Five Points by the time that prison construction started in 1838. The heavy masonry of Haviland's design was built atop vertical piles of 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 unsanitary conditions in the decades that followed. Charles Dickens wrote about the jail in his travelogue American Notes for General Circulation: "Such indecent and disgusting dungeons as these cells, would bring disgrace upon the most despotic empire in the world!" The Tombs' formal title was The New York Halls of Justice and House of Detention, as it housed the city's courts, police, and detention facilities. Although a notable example of Egyptian Revival architecture, opinion varied greatly concerning its actual merit. As Dickens wrote: "What is this dismal fronted pile of bastard Egyptian, like an enchanter's palace in a melodrama?" The prison was well known for its corruption and was the scene of numerous scandals and escapes during its early history. A fire destroyed part of the building on November 18, 1842, the same day that a notorious killer named John C. Colt was due to be hanged. Apparently it was an escape attempt on Colt's part that failed, and he fatally stabbed himself in his cell. Convicted murderer and New York City politician William J. Sharkey earned national notoriety for escaping disguised as a woman on November 22, 1872. He was never captured, and his fate is unknown. Rebecca Salome Foster, a prison relief worker and missionary, became known as "the Tombs Angel" for her efforts to help and advocate on behalf of the many poor people held in squalid conditions at the Tombs. A monument to Foster, built in 1902 and put in storage in 1940, was rededicated in 2019 in the New York State Supreme Court's lobby.
City Prison, 1902–1941
In 1902, the 1838 building was replaced by a $1 million city prison featuring an eight-story Châteauesque facade with conical towers along Centre Street, bounded by Centre, White, Elm (today's Lafayette), and Leonard Streets. The architects were Frederick Clarke Withers and Walter Dickson from Albany, who had been partners since the 1880s. This was their final major commission. In September 1900, the architects complained that construction would be delayed for a year and cost an additional $250,000 due to the unnecessary insertion of corrupt Tammany Hall architects Horgan and Slattery into the project. The building was connected to the 1892 Manhattan Criminal Courts Building with a "Bridge of Sighs," crossing four stories above Franklin Street. There was also an Annex with another 144 cells that had been finished in 1884. A newspaper photo in 1912 shows Harry Kendall Thaw in The Tombs prison seated at a formal table setting, dining on a meal catered for him by Delmonico's restaurant. He was given preferential treatment; instead of the standard-issue jail cell cot, during his confinement Thaw slept in a brass bed. Exempted from also wearing prisoner's garb, he was allowed to wear his own custom-tailored clothes. The jail's doctor was induced to allow Thaw a daily ration of champagne and wine. In his jail cell, it was reported that Thaw heard the heavenly voices of young girls calling to him, which he interpreted as a sign of divine approval. He was unshakable in his belief that the public would applaud the man who had rid the world of the menace of Stanford White.
Manhattan House of Detention, 1941–1974
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