Be that as it may, the beginning of what eventually became the district prison network traces at least as far back as the late 1830s. Among the projects it undertook was expansion of the district prisons. The Yorkville Prison, or 57th St. Jail as it was sometimes called, had capacity for 40 detainees in the courthouse basement at 57th St. between 3rd and Lexington Ave. The judicial structure also housed the Fourth District Court and Family Court. Male inmates stayed overnight, some remaining months and years.
Women inmates didn t remain overnight.
But its 38 cells sometimes held 157. The night court on 54th Street was just in back of the prison. A district prison's doorway to court stairs. Even as the Fordham prison was being created, the old Jefferson Market Prison was being razed and then replaced by a seven-story brick building to house a courthouse and detention facilities for 138 inmates, in part to relieve overcrowding at the Tombs. Dormitories and 28 cells provided capacity for 78 male inmates.