Corrections Department Makes a Break From Downtown to Queens

The city’s Department of Corrections is escaping from downtown Manhattan to Queens, planning to take 120,000 square feet in the former headquarters of the Bulova Watch Company at 75-20 Astoria Boulevard, a spokesman for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services confirmed.

Corrections, led by Commissioner Martin Horn, expects to vacate its home at 60 Hudson Street in Lower Manhattan, part of an effort to locate closer to the prison on Rikers Island, according to Corrections spokesman Stephen Morello.

The Bulova building, owned by Blumenfeld Development Group, is a sprawling low-rise Art Deco structure that once housed Bulova’s manufacturing operation and offices. Asking rents are around $35 a foot, according to Blumenfeld’s Web site.