NY To Close Downstate Correctional Facility In Hudson Valley

FISHKILL, NY — New York is planning on closing some prisons around the state and a Hudson Valley facility is on the list.

Citing a decade-long decline in prison populations, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced Monday it would be closing six facilities, according to a statement from the department.

Included on this list of prisons that would be shuttered as of March 10 is Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill.

The department said the 2021-22 state budget authorized the governor to close state prisons because the incarcerated population continues to decline and closing them would be a prudent and safe way to save taxpayer dollars.

All six closures will save the state about $142 million, the department said.

The other facilities being closed are:

• Ogdensburg Correctional Facility, St. Lawrence County
• Moriah Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility, Essex County
• The Willard Drug Treatment Campus, Seneca County
• Southport Correctional Facility, Chemung County
• Rochester Correctional Facility, Monroe County

No layoffs are anticipated because of the closings, the department said.

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro said his office was taken by surprise by the announcement.

"There has been no coordination between the governor's office and Dutchess County on the closure of this large facility," he told Patch, "nor a coordinated plan for the future use of the parcel and the hundreds of workers who will be affected."

Molinaro said that people should understand that no inmates at Downstate are being released; they will simply be transferred to remaining state prisons or county jails throughout New York.

"Today's announcement only leaves Dutchess County with more questions than answers," he said.

Fishkill Town Supervisor Ozzy Albra said he believes it is wrong to close Downstate.

"They and their officers have been a mainstay to our community and deserve better," he told Patch.

Downstate, a maximum security level men's facility, is located in the town of Fishkill just north of Fishkill Correctional Facility, which is a medium security men's prison.

The statement from the corrections department noted that as of Monday the total prison population is 31,469. That represents a reduction of more than 12,700 individuals since Jan. 1, 2020. It is also the lowest total incarcerated population in the state prisons since 1984.

The department reviewed operations at its 50 correctional facilities for possible closure, according to a spokesman. The review was based on factors including physical infrastructure, program offerings, facility security level, specialized medical and mental health services, proximity of other facilities in the area to minimize staff impact, potential re-use options and areas of the state where prior closures have happened in order to minimize the impact to communities.

Corrections officials will work closely with various bargaining units to provide staff with opportunities for priority placement via voluntary transfers, as well as priority employment at other facilities or other state agencies through the formal Civil Service process that is followed with the closure of a correctional facility.

According to the state, Downstate Correctional Facility has a current staff of 644, with 688 incarcerated individuals. Its capacity is 1,221.

The state said it will be able to safely absorb the inmates into vacant beds available at other institutions and relocate the drug treatment campus functions to Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility in Chautauqua County, the work release program at Rochester will be mored to Orleans Correctional Facility in Orleans County, and Elmira Correctional facility in Chemung County will expand its reception footprint to absorb the incoming who would have first gone to Downstate Correctional Facility.