Prison officials confirmed Thursday that two upstate prisons housing about 1,000 inmates will close within the next few months, angering critics who blame Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies for the closures.
Great Meadow Correctional Institution in Washington County and Sullivan Correctional Institution in Sullivan County, both maximum security prisons, will close on Nov. 6, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
A DOCCS spokesman said the inmates will be transferred to the state’s 13 remaining maximum security prisons.
The department left open the possibility of further prison closures: A provision in the state budget passed earlier this year allows it to close up to five facilities.
The closure announcement drew swift condemnation from corrections officials and Republican lawmakers.
“The Governor has a funny way of showing that he’s from upstate New York,” state Sen. Jake Ashby (R-Wash.), whose district includes one of the detention centers, said in a statement.
“The closure of Great Meadows would be a job-killing, community-devastating disaster that can only be justified by misleading statistics that contradict the actual statistics.”
“If changes need to be made to our corrections system, they should be accompanied by a sound plan for how to fix them, ample notice to all affected, and a plan to mitigate the negative economic impacts on employees and the community,” said state Sen. Peter Oberacker (R-Otsego), who represents Sullivan Correctional Institution.
More than 900 employees at the two prisons being closed will be offered the opportunity to transfer to other facilities, DOCCS said.
But the union representing corrections officers slammed that premise, arguing that many staff would choose to quit or find other work rather than relocate with their families.
“Reallocation of staff due to prison closures will likely have the same result as previous years: short-term staffing increases to a few facilities with little to no long-term relief,” Chris Summers, president of the New York State Corrections Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement.
“New York state needs to take bold and creative action to solve the staffing shortages that are draining morale and pushing employees to their limits,” Summers said. “Closing prisons and expecting different results is not bold or creative. It’s shortsighted.”
Summers also criticized Democrats for pushing to end solitary confinement and expand prison programming while not addressing the need to increase staffing to run prisons.
According to DOCCS, New York’s prison population has declined sharply since about 73,000 people were incarcerated in state prisons in 1999. As of Thursday, DOCCS said the number was about 33,000.
“If we do not see an increase in hiring, we may need to consider additional closures during the fiscal year,” DOCCS said in a statement.
Gov. Kathy Hawkle’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
