The Tombs

{{Short description|Detention complex in Manhattan, New York}} {{Other uses}} {{Use American English|date=April 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox prison | prison_name = The Tombs<br />(Manhattan Detention Complex) | image = Manhattan Detention Complex north building.jpg | location = New York City | coordinates = | status = '''Active''' | classification = Municipal Jail | capacity = | opened = 1838 (original building) | closed = | former_name = Halls of Justice, Manhattan House of Detention | managed_by = New York City Department of Corrections | director = Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie | headercss = | contentcss = | header = | content = |caption=The North Tower of the complex as it appeared in 2013}} '''The Tombs''' was the colloquial name for the '''Manhattan Detention Complex,'''<ref name=Chan/> 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.<ref name=Chan>{{cite news|last=Chan|first=Sewell|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/03/nyregion/03kerik.html|title=Disgraced and Penalized, Kerik Finds His Name Stripped Off Jail|work=The New York Times|date=July 3, 2006|access-date=February 16, 2021|url-access=limited}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Carrott>{{cite book|last=Carrott|first=Richard G.|title=The Egyptian revival: its sources, monuments, and meaning, 1808–1858|publisher=University of California Press|date=1978|isbn=978-0520033245|page=165|oclc=633069010|lccn=76024579|location=Berkeley}}</ref>

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,<ref name=Kerik/> its demolition began on the latter two buildings in 2023, in preparation for a controversial new jail building at the same address.<ref name=Glassman/>

== History == === Halls of Justice and House of Detention, 1838–1902 === [[File:(King1893NYC) pg501 THE TOMBS. THE PLACE OF DETENTION FOR CRIMINALS AWAITING TRIAL (cropped).jpg|alt=An Egyptian-Revival-style building on a street corner; there are doric columns on the façade to the right of the image. There are men on the street, and work is being done using cranes, on an adjacent building out of frame to the right.|left|thumb|The original Egyptian Revival-style Tombs building in a photograph from 1893. Leonard Street, left. Centre Street, foreground.]] {{multiple image | align = left | direction = vertical | width =  | caption_align =  | image1 = ColtWedding.jpg | width1 =  | alt1 = An etching of a man and a woman being married in a jail cell. Sunlight streams in through a small window. | caption1 = Artist's depiction of the wedding of John C. Colt in The Tombs, 1842 | image2 = Thaw in jail.tiff | width2 =  | alt2 = | caption2 = Harry Kendall Thaw, killer of architect Stanford White, in his cell, 1912 }} 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.<ref name=Carrott /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0DE2D71730E033A25757C0A9619C94679ED7CF |title=Doom of the Old Tombs; Soon to be Removed to Make Way for New Prison |work=The New York Times |date=July 4, 1896}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Carrott/>

The building site had been created by filling in the Collect Pond that 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!"<ref name="NYT 16 June 2019">{{cite news |last1=Libbey |first1=Peter |title=New York's Tribute to the 'Tombs Angel': Lost, Found, Now Restored |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/16/arts/design/new-york-monument-tombs-angel.html |access-date=June 17, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=June 16, 2019}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kernan |first=J. Frank |title=Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York |page=220}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Walling |first=George W. |title=Recollections of a New York Chief of Police |location=New York |publisher=Caxton Book Concern, Ltd. |year=1887 |pages=292–296}}</ref>

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.<ref name="NYT 16 June 2019" />

=== City Prison, 1902–1941 === {{multiple image | align = | direction = vertical | width =  | caption_align =  | image1 = The Tombs-built 1902.jpg | width1 =  | alt1 = | caption1 = The "Bridge of Sighs" connecting the 1902 Tombs prison at left with the 1894 Manhattan Criminal Courts building, looking west from Centre Street | image2 = Bridge of Sighs, Tombs Prison.jpg | width2 =  | alt2 = | caption2 = The Bridge of Sighs {{circa|1896}} }}

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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.nyc-architecture.com/IM-111002/110927-GON072-04.jpg | title=New City Prison | website=www.nyc-architecture.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005232041/http://www.nyc-architecture.com/IM-111002/110927-GON072-04.jpg | archive-date=2020-10-05 | url-status=usurped | format=JPG}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |title=City Prison Alterations |work=The New York Times |date=September 7, 1900 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1900/09/07/archives/city-prison-alterations-architects-withers-dickson-say-they-are.html |access-date=April 28, 2026}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Uruburu |first=Paula |title=American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White: The Birth of the "It" Girl and the Crime of the Century |location=New York |publisher=Riverhead Books |year=2008 |isbn=978-1594489938 |pages=298, 300}}</ref> 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.<ref>Uruburu, p. 292</ref>

=== Manhattan House of Detention, 1941–1974 === thumb|The Manhattan House of Detention ''(left)'' was built in 1941, at the same time as the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse ''(right)''. It became the South Tower of the expanded and renamed Manhattan Detention Complex once the new North Tower opened in 1990.|left The 1902 prison was replaced in 1941 by a high-rise facility across the street on the east side of Centre Street. The {{convert|795,000|sqft|m2|adj=on}}<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/long-forgotten-monument-nyc-prison-reformer-will-be-reinstalled-state-courthouse-180972432/ | title=Long-Forgotten Monument to Prison Reformer Will Be Reinstalled in New York Courthouse | website=www.smithsonianmag.com | first=Meilan | last=Solly |date=June 17, 2019}}</ref> Art Deco architecture facility was designed by architects Harvey Wiley Corbett and Charles B. Meyers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wolfe |first=Gerard R. |year=2003 |title=New York, 15 Walking Tours: An Architectural Guide to the Metropolis |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional |isbn=0071411852 |page=102}}</ref><ref name="tombs">{{cite web |url = http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/resources/man_criminalcourt.shtml |title = Manhattan Criminal Court Building |author = Department of Citywide Administrative Services, City of New York |access-date = December 30, 2008 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090221161645/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/resources/man_criminalcourt.shtml |archive-date = February 21, 2009 }}</ref>

The facility is the northernmost of the four 15-story towers of the New York City Criminal Courts Building at 100 Centre Street, bounded by Centre, White, and Baxter Streets, and Hogan Place. The three southern towers are wings of a single integrated structure sharing a five-story "crown"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=30093 |title=Criminal Courts Building, New York City |publisher=SkyscraperPage.com |date= |accessdate=May 2, 2022}}</ref> which house the city's Criminal and Supreme Courts, city offices, and various departments, including the headquarters of the Department of Correction. The northern tower is freestanding, with the separate address of 125 White Street. It was officially named the Manhattan House of Detention for Men (MHD), although it was still referred to popularly as The Tombs.

By 1969, the Tombs ranked as the worst of the city's jails, both in overall conditions and in overcrowding. It held an average of 2,000 inmates in spaces designed for 925.<ref>{{cite book |title=Courts, Corrections, and the Constitution: The Impact of Judicial Intervention on Prisons and Jails |editor-first1=John J. |editor-last1= DiIulio |page=140}}</ref> Inmates rioted on August 10, 1970, after multiple warnings about falling budgets, aging facilities, and rising populations, and after an informational picket of City Hall by union correctional officers drawing attention to the pressures. Rioters took command of the entire ninth floor, and five officers were held hostage for eight hours, until state officials agreed to hear prisoner grievances and take no punitive action against the rioters.<ref>DiIulio, p. 143</ref> Despite that promise, Mayor John Lindsay had the primary troublemakers shipped upstate to the state's Attica Correctional Facility which likely contributed to the Attica Prison riot about a year later.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Useem |first1=Bert |last2=Kimball |first2=Peter |year=1989 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/States_of_Siege_U_S_Prison_Riots_1971_19/A1kiDt_N6ysC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA26&printsec=frontcover |title=States of Siege: U.S. Prison Riots, 1971-1986 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=26 |isbn=9780198022336 |access-date=April 28, 2026 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Within a month after the riot, the New York City Legal Aid Society filed a landmark class action suit on behalf of pre-trial detainees held in the Tombs. The city decided to close the Tombs on December 20, 1974, after years of litigation and after federal judge Morris E. Lasker agreed that the prison's conditions were so bad as to be unconstitutional. They shipped the remaining 400 inmates to Rikers Island, where conditions were not much better.<ref>DiIulio, p. 149</ref>

=== Manhattan Detention Complex, 1983–2023 === The Manhattan Detention Complex consisted of a South Tower, the former Manhattan House of Detention remodeled and reopened in 1983, and a North Tower across White Street, completed in 1990. The complex housed only male inmates, most of them pretrial detainees. The total capacity of the two buildings was nearly 900 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/facilities_overview.shtml|title=Facilities Overview – Department of Correction|website=City of New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420183144/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/about/facilities_overview.shtml|archive-date=April 20, 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=March 7, 2018|quote=Manhattan Detention Complex – capacity: 898. 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, or the "Tombs," was opened in 1983, after a complete remodeling. The complex houses male detainees, most of them undergoing the intake process or facing trial in New York County (Manhattan).}}</ref>

The jail was named the Bernard B. Kerik Complex in December 2001 at the direction of then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.<ref name=Kerik>{{cite press release|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2001b/pr395-01.html|title=Mayor Giuliani and Correction Commissioner Fraser rename the Manhattan Detention Complex 'The Bernard B. Kerik Complex'|publisher=City of New York|date=December 12, 2001|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref> Kerik was commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections from 1998 to 2000<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/11/us/bernard-kerik-fast-facts/|title=Bernard Kerik Fast Facts|date=March 4, 2020|access-date=February 16, 2021|work=CNN}}</ref><ref name=Chan/> before becoming police commissioner.<ref name="CNN"/> After he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in 2006, committed during his tenure as a city employee, subsequent Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered Kerik's name removed.<ref name=Chan/> alt=A crowd listening to speakers in front of The Tombs. People at the front hold posters rallying for no new jails.|thumb|Rally in front of The Tombs to stop the construction of a new jail, 2022 In 2019, the New York City Council announced plans to build four new jails citywide to replace Rikers Island, including a high-rise jail tower on the site of the Tombs.<ref name="Poon 2022 w139">{{cite web |last=Poon |first=Linda |date=June 17, 2022 |title=Rikers Jail Replacement Plan Pits Chinatown Against New York City |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-17/nyc-plan-to-replace-rikers-spurs-protest-in-chinatown |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=Bloomberg.com}}</ref> The ''New York Daily News'' reported that the city planned to close the complex prior to the end of November 2020.<ref>{{cite web|last=Marcius|first=Chelsia Rose|title=NYC to close two city jails by November: 'The Tombs' in Lower Manhattan and a jail on Rikers Island|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-correction-department-closes-the-tombs-20201009-q2bdw4scrzh2rfzfuyynsqmioa-story.html|access-date=October 18, 2020|website=New York Daily News|date=October 9, 2020 }}</ref> The demolition of the Tombs attracted criticism from landlords, local residents, and prison-reform advocates.<ref name="Poon 2022 w139" /><ref name="Chan 2023 r767">{{cite web | last=Chan | first=Wilfred | title=New York is building the world's tallest jail in Chinatown. Can anyone stop it? | website=the Guardian | date=August 21, 2023 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/21/new-york-jail-chinatown-rikers-island | access-date=March 2, 2024}}</ref> Opponents claimed the redevelopment would harm local residents and businesses.<ref name="Poon 2022 w139" /> An injunction preventing the jail tower's construction was issued by the New York Supreme Court in 2020 but was overturned the next year.<ref name="Insider 2022 j407">{{cite web |date=April 22, 2022 |title=Residents fight plans for 'mega jail' in New York City's Chinatown |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3175146/new-york-city-wants-build-mega-jail-chinatown |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=South China Morning Post}}</ref> Two artists also filed a lawsuit to preserve artwork that was displayed on the Tombs' facade, but U.S. district judge Lewis A. Kaplan declined to grant an injunction,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Small |first=Zachary |date=May 19, 2022 |title=Demolition for Jail Can Go Forward, Judge Rules in a Suit Brought by Artists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/arts/design/artist-lawsuit-manhattan-detention-complex.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and seven murals were subsequently removed.<ref name="Duddridge 2023 l686">{{cite web |last=Duddridge |first=Natalie |date=November 10, 2023 |title=Artists mourn loss of Manhattan Detention Center murals as buildings are demolished |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/manhattan-detention-center-complex-murals-art/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=CBS New York}}</ref> The demolition of the Tombs was finally approved in April 2023<ref name="Tribeca Citizen 2023 f509">{{cite web | title=Demolition to start on White Street jails | website=Tribeca Citizen | date=April 20, 2023 | url=https://tribecacitizen.com/2023/04/20/demolition-to-start-on-white-street-jails/ | access-date=March 2, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Garber 2023 z947">{{cite web |last=Garber |first=Nick |date=April 20, 2023 |title=Teardown of Manhattan jail set to begin amid Rikers uncertainty |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics/teardown-manhattan-jail-set-begin-amid-rikers-uncertainty |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=Crain's New York Business}}</ref> but was paused after further objections.<ref name="Johnson 2023 s450">{{cite web | last=Johnson | first=Stephon | title=City Hits Pause on Demolition of Manhattan Detention Center After Outcry From Locals | website=THE CITY – NYC News | date=April 26, 2023 | url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/04/26/pause-demolition-manhattan-detention-center/ | access-date=March 2, 2024}}</ref>

=== Unnamed Chinatown jail complex, 2024–present === Demolition continued despite objection by local residents and was completed in August 2024.<ref>{{cite news | last=Chen | first=Stefanos | last2=Chan | first2=Mable | title=Anger in New York Over Huge Chinatown Jail Project | work=The New York Times | date=April 1, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/nyregion/jail-construction-chinatown-manhattan.html | access-date=April 13, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Michael |last2=Pruznick |first2=Matt |date=2024-08-25 |title=Demolition Wraps Up For Manhattan Detention Complex At 124-125 White Street In Chinatown, Manhattan |url=https://newyorkyimby.com/2024/08/demolition-wraps-up-for-future-manhattan-detention-complex-at-124-125-white-street-in-chinatown-manhattan.html |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=New York YIMBY |language=en-US}}</ref> A neighboring senior residence and health clinic suffered buckling and cracks during demolition of the previous jail building that year.<ref name=Glassman/> Plans for the new jail were presented to the city government in late 2025 by city representatives and the architecture firm HOK by then already over budget by $1.5 billion.<ref name=Glassman>{{cite web | last=Glassman | first=Carl | title=Preliminary Plans Shown for Chinatown Jail, New Pedestrian Plaza | website=Tribeca Trib Online | date=November 10, 2025 | url=https://www.tribecatrib.com/content/preliminary-plans-shown-chinatown-jail-new-pedestrian-plaza | access-date=January 26, 2026}}</ref> City officials announced in January 2026 that construction would begin shortly<ref>{{cite web | last=Blau | first=Reuven | title=Construction to Start on Chinatown Jail Despite Fierce Community Opposition | website=The City – NYC News | date=January 23, 2026 | url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/23/chinatown-jail-manhattan-construction-rikers/ | access-date=January 26, 2026}}</ref> and it is expected to be completed in 2032.<ref name=Glassman/>

==Notable people== * Edward Coleman, first criminal executed at the prison in 1839 * Rebecca Salome Foster, prison relief worker (1848–1902) known as one of "The Tombs Angels" * Ernestine Schaffner, prison relief worker (c. 1828–1902) known as the other of "The Tombs Angels" * William M. Tweed, head of the Tammany Hall political ring, spent a year in the Tombs after his second trial in 1873 * Morris U. Schappes, American educator, writer, radical political activist, historian, and magazine editor, incarcerated there after a 1941 perjury conviction obtained in association with testimony before the Rapp-Coudert Committee (investigating Communism in education in New York) * Vojislav Stanimirović (crime boss) YACS * 16 people associated with the ''Opie and Anthony'' WNEW radio show were arrested and held in The Tombs overnight in November 2000 during a promotion for [https://web.archive.org/web/20010118214900/http://www.voyeurbus.com/ "The Voyeur Bus"], a mostly glass bus carting topless women through Manhattan with a police escort.<ref>{{cite news | first=William | last=Rashbaum | title=Escort of Voyeur Bus Suspended by Police | date=February 12, 2000 |url =https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F0081FFC34590C718CDDAB0994D8404482 | work=The New York Times | access-date = July 5, 2007 }}</ref>

==References== === Notes === {{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography === * {{cite journal | first = Timothy J. | last = Gilfoyle | title = "America's Greatest Criminal Barracks": The Tombs and the Experience of Criminal Justice in New York City, 1838–1897 | journal = Journal of Urban History | volume = 29 | issue = 5 | year = 2003 | pages = 525–554 | oclc = 88513081 | doi = 10.1177/0096144203029005002 | s2cid = 144410853 }} * {{cite book | last = Roth | first = Mitchel p. | title = Prisons and Prison Systems: A Global Encyclopedia | location = Westport, Connecticut | publisher = Greenwood Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-313-32856-5 | oclc = 60835344 }}

== Further reading == * {{cite book | chapter-url = http://www.uhb.fr/faulkner/ny/meyerberger1.htm | title = The Eight Million: Journal of a New York Correspondent | chapter = The Tombs | location = New York | publisher = Columbia University Press | orig-year = 1942 | year = 1983 | pages = 23–35 | first = Meyer | last = Berger | edition = Columbia University Press Morningside | isbn = 978-0-231-05710-3 | oclc = 9066227 | access-date = October 10, 2007 | archive-date = September 27, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194805/http://www.uhb.fr/faulkner/ny/meyerberger1.htm | url-status = dead }} * {{cite book | author-link = Miriam Allen deFord | last = DeFord | first = Miriam Allen | title = Stone Walls: Prisons from Fetters to Furloughs | location = Philadelphia | publisher = Chilton | year = 1962 | oclc = 378834 }} * {{cite book | last = Johnson | first = James A. | title = Forms of Constraint: A History of Prison Architecture | location = Urbana | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-252-02557-0 | oclc = 42434965 }} * {{cite book | last = Sifakis | first = Carl | title = The Encyclopedia of American Prisons | location = New York | publisher = Facts on File | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-8160-4511-2 | oclc = 49225908 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam00carl }}

==External links== {{commons category|New York City Criminal Courts Building and The Tombs}} * [https://www.prisonpro.com/content/manhattan-detention-complex Manhattan Detention Complex] on prisonpro.com * [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/timeline/html/timeline.html New York Correction History Society timeline (includes photo)] * [http://www.inyc.freeservers.com/custom.html "Irish in New York" site, Census of prisoners in 1860] * [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/bbkcomplex.html Article on the building complex] at the website of the New York Correction History Society {{coord|40|42|59.8|N|74|00|05|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=title}} {{Chinatown, Manhattan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombs, The}} Category:1838 establishments in New York (state) Category:Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States Category:Five Points, Manhattan Category:Government buildings completed in 1838 Category:Government buildings completed in 1902 Category:Government buildings completed in 1941 Category:Government buildings in Manhattan Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1838 Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1902 Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1941 Category:Jails in New York City Category:John Haviland buildings Category:New York City Department of Correction Category:Prisons in New York City Category:Skyscrapers in Manhattan Category:Art Deco architecture in New York City