The Detention Complex That Dare Not Speak His Name

After former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was convicted of two counts of funny business, his name was stripped from the Manhattan Detention Complex:

The 881-bed jail — commonly known as the Tombs for the original Egyptian Revival structure built in 1838, or for the grim atmosphere, depending on whom you believe — will no longer be called the Bernard B. Kerik Complex. It will again be called the Manhattan Detention Complex, as it was before Dec. 12, 2001, when Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani dedicated the two buildings that make up the complex in honor of Mr. Kerik.

A City Hall spokesman said yesterday that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg made the decision to change the jail’s name on Saturday, a day after Mr. Kerik pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court in the Bronx to two misdemeanors: accepting $165,000 worth of home renovations from a contractor and failing to report a $28,000 loan from a real estate developer.

The mayor’s decision took effect almost immediately. Between 1 and 3 a.m. yesterday, workers replaced the old signs bearing Mr. Kerik’s name at the jail, at 125 White Street, with colorful plastic signs bearing the new name.

The change was so sudden that it startled, and pleased, some correction officers and visitors.

“No jail needs to be named after a crook,” said Monique N. Randolph, 30, of Brownsville, Brooklyn, who was visiting a relative at the jail yesterday. She said that she had followed the Kerik case closely and was disappointed that he would only have to pay $221,000 in fines and penalties.

“I think he should do time in jail just like the other criminals,” Ms. Randolph said.

Jessica T. Hale, 32, a manager at a Chelsea art gallery who lives on Mosco Street in Chinatown, near the jail, applauded Mr. Bloomberg’s decision. “It’s ironic that an institution of correction would be named after someone who needs correction,” she said. “His name should be off the building.”