Governor Cuomo announced Friday that three state correctional facilities will close under the new state spending plan.
“In my first State of the State address eight years ago, I said prisons are not a jobs program. Since then, I am proud to have closed more prisons than any governor in history,” Cuomo said in a statement, adding that more facilities will now be mothballed.
“These new closures are another step toward reversing the era of mass incarceration and recognizing that there are more effective alternatives to lengthy imprisonment.”
There is a significant possibility that the North Country could be affected because the region’s prison industry is so large — with more than a dozen state correctional facilities from Port Henry to Ogdensburg to Watertown. In many of those communities, the state prison is the largest single source of employment
Cuomo cited dropping crime and incarceration rates for the proposal and said no decisions have yet been made about which prisons will close. Over the last twenty years, New York’s inmate population has dropped by more than a third.
Fear and skepticism from North Country lawmakers
Still, a bipartisan range of North Country lawmakers voiced immediate concern. “Maintaining safety in these facilities for the men and women who work there and for the inmates is critical,” said state Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury).
“As I understand, we still see overcrowding in some places, including in the large dormitories. Closing prisons will have a ripple effect throughout the system.”
Little noted that the North Country has already lost four state prisons in recent years, in Chateaugay, Gabriels, Lyon Mountain and the Glens Falls area. “We can’t afford to lose more jobs or more good people,” she said.
Democratic Assemblyman Billy Jones agreed: “The governor’s proposal to close three prisons in New York is cause for major concern,” he said in a statement Friday.
“While no prisons have been specifically named, communities statewide will have to wait with bated breath to find out if a critical part of their economy will be shuttered.”
Jones is a former corrections officer. He noted that the move could raise safety concerns, adding that mothballing prisons “leaves communities with massive structures that are nearly impossible to repurpose or sell for development.”
Republican state Sen. Patty Ritchie from St. Lawrence County also raised jobs concerns: “The five prisons in our region, and the jobs they support, are critical to our local communities and their economies,” she said in a statement.
Closures will happen within seven months
According to the Governor’s office, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will select the prisons and transition staff and inmates to remaining facilities. Cuomo said there would be no lay-offs.
The closures will happen rapidly with the prisons chosen slated to close at the end of this summer.
THE POPULATION SHOULD ALWAYS BE WELL ARMED…… MOST OF THESE “PRISONERS” ARE IN FOR VICTIMLESS “CRIME”
JUST REMEMBER… REPUBLICUNT CONSERVATIVES LOVE YOU;”“As I understand, we still see overcrowding in some places, including in the large dormitories. Closing prisons will have a ripple effect throughout the system.”HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!