纽约市已开始建造一座可容纳 1000 名在押人员、高 335 英尺的新型垂直监狱，这是 2019 年批准的一项价值 160 亿美元计划的一部分，该计划旨在到 2032 年用四座摩天大楼监狱取代莱克斯岛（Rikers Island）监狱群。莱克斯岛目前收容了纽约市 6700 名在押人员中的大部分，其中约 85% 处于审前拘留状态，且面临着死亡率上升 82%、武力使用率翻倍以上的危机。

这四座新的垂直监狱的合并最大容量将为 4160 人，仅为莱克斯岛目前在押人数的 60%，这需要通过重大的司法改革来缩短审前等待时间。虽然 160 亿美元的造价大约是在伊利诺伊州建造类似监狱成本的八倍，但目前在莱克斯岛关押一名囚犯每年就要花费城市 45 万美元。

这些新型高层建筑的设计类似于大学学院而非混凝土堡垒，其高层将设有网罩式户外露台、医疗设施和分散的警卫服务台。建筑师和改革者希望这些更加人道的设计特征能够培养共情并减少暴力，代表了美国监狱建筑的重大转变。

New York City has broken ground on a new 335-foot vertical jail housing 1,000 inmates, part of a $16 billion plan approved in 2019 to replace the Rikers Island complex with four skyscraper jails by 2032. Rikers currently houses 6,700 inmates, 85% of whom are in pre-trial detention, amid a crisis where the death rate has risen 82% and use of force has more than doubled.

The four new vertical jails will have a combined maximum capacity of 4,160, which is only 60% of Rikers' current population, requiring significant judicial reforms to shorten pre-trial wait times. While the $16 billion price tag is about eight times the cost of building similar prisons in Illinois, keeping a single inmate at Rikers already costs the city $450,000 annually.

Designed to resemble university faculties rather than concrete fortresses, the new high-rises will feature mesh-encased outdoor terraces on upper floors, medical facilities, and decentralized guard desks. Architects and reformers hope these humane design features will foster empathy and reduce violence, representing a major shift in American jail architecture.

Source: Meet the jailscraper

Subtitle: With no room for prisons, New York City is building up

Dateline: June 4th 2026