Uncertainty looms over which facilities might be affected
By Gwendolyn Craig
Adirondack legislators are concerned that the $237 billion state budget passed on Saturday authorizes Gov. Kathy Hochul to close up to five prisons within the fiscal year. It’s unclear if any of those would be in the North Country.
Within the budget, a section allows Hochul to close up to five correctional facilities in the next 12 months with at least 90 days notice to the state Senate and Assembly.
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Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, a former corrections officer, said he did not know what prisons could be on a closure list but he voted against the measure.
On Thursday, State Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, introduced a hostile amendment to a budget bill to remove that authorization, but it was voted down. He, too, hasn’t heard of which facilities may be closed, but he thought the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and the governor’s office may have an idea by now.
“At this point it’s guessing,” Stec said. “I’m hoping it’s less than five and none in my senate district, but I don’t want to wish my problem on another community. I’m hoping it doesn’t affect the North Country.”
A report and mapping tool created by the Correctional Association of New York showed that Adirondack Correctional Facility in Ray Brook, a medium security prison for men, was 39% full as of Feb. 1. As of Jan. 4, 12% of security positions, 11% of support service positions and 15% of program positions were vacant there. Four other prisons in the state had higher percentages for staff vacancy.
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Great Meadow Correctional Facility, just outside the park in Comstock in Washington County, was on a list of five prisons with the greatest number of empty beds. It was 27% full with 1,157 empty beds as of Feb. 1.
Stec said he doesn’t think inmate occupancy will have too much impact on closure considering inmates can be moved around. He is more concerned with staffing levels and providing additional safety measures for corrections officers. He also thinks the governor’s office will be looking at closing a facility that is close to another. Stec called it “cannibalizing prisons” so that staff at a closing facility will more likely be transferred.
Also In Ray Brook is the Federal Correctional Institution Ray Brook, a medium security prison with 656 inmates, according to its website. It’s unclear whether its presence would influence Hochul’s closure decisions.
The Adirondacks has faced a history of prisons and prison closures, and what to do with them has been tricky for all involved. That’s because state-owned facilities in the Adirondacks, if no longer used for state administrative purposes, can revert to constitutionally protected forest preserve. Forest preserve lands cannot be sold or leased.
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Moriah Shock Incarceration Facility in Essex County was one of two boot-camp-like prisons left in the state but was closed in early 2022. Stec said it could be on Gov. Hochul’s list as a site for housing. In the new budget, $500 million is devoted to build up to 15,000 new homes on state land. This would only work without a constitutional amendment, however, if the state retained ownership.
No one wants to see Moriah Shock deteriorate like Camp Gabriels outside of Saranac Lake, Stec said.
Camp Gabriels, in Franklin County, was closed in 2009. The buildings are in disrepair now. Stec said he still hopes a constitutional amendment to remove Camp Gabriels from forest preserve could be passed this session. He has ushered an amendment successfully through the Senate three times before, but it has stalled in the Assembly. He is concerned about getting it passed this year due to the three-week budget delay and a shorter time to get things done before the session ends in June.
Top photo: Camp Gabriels with Sable and Loon Lake Mountains in the distance. Photo by Tom French
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Prisons should not be considered economic development. A prison means crimes were committed. The fact that crime has dropped and thus the prison population is an overall net benefit for the state.