NY to close 6 prisons, including one in Seneca County - syracuse.com

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Albany, N.Y. — New York announced plans Monday to close six state prisons by March, including the Willard Drug Treatment Campus about 90 minutes west of Syracuse.

The other prisons closing include Moriah Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility in Essex County, Ogdensburg Correctional Facility in St. Lawrence County, Southport Correctional Facility near Elmira, Rochester Correctional Facility and Downstate Correctional Facility in Dutchess County.

All prisoners at the sites will be transferred to other facilities.

The six prisons are running well under capacity, according to The New York Times. Together, they can fit up to 3,253 people, but currently house just 1,420.

Willard, a medium-security facility, currently has a staff of 329 people overseeing 168 incarcerated individuals. Its full capacity is 664, according to the New York Daily News.

The state has closed 18 other prisons since 2011, the News said.

The new closings will save taxpayers $142 million, according to the Times.

The shutdowns won’t lead to job cuts. The state instead will shift the 1,700 workers from the six prisons to other facilities or agencies, the Times said.

The closures were approved as part of the state budget in April, according to the News. The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision then decided which facilities to shut down.

As of June, the state’s inmate populate was 31,903, according to North Country Public Radio. That’s a drop of 56% from its peak of 72,773 in 1999.

Republicans attacked Gov. Kathy Hochul over the closings.

“Closing prisons is an idea that might appeal to liberal voters in a primary, but it’s of no benefit to Upstate communities and represents yet another step backward on public safety,” Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, said in a statement. “Shutting down these facilities in the same reckless manner used by her predecessor demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the men and women who have dedicated their careers to serving the public.”

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s district includes two of the prisons that will close: Ogdensburg and Moriah.

“Targeting multiple North Country prisons is an attack on the hardworking residents of the North Country,” Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said in a statement. “This decision is just one more example of Gov. Hochul lurching to the left and completely punishing Upstate New York. Gov. Hochul must reverse course. New Yorkers deserve better.”

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