ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul is exploring building a new 3,000-bed state prison — the largest in New York — in a baffling reverse-of-course after shuttering numerous correctional facilities.
The state Corrections Department is seeking proposals to construct the massive proposed $750 million facility somewhere in the state, according to stunning documents released this week and obtained by The Post.
“The proposed facility will include approximately 3,000 beds, multiple new housing and support buildings, security systems, and significant site and utility infrastructure improvements,” the documents said.
As to where the new prison might be located, the documents only said it would “require access to transportation and other essential community support services.”
The shocking development comes after Hochul has faced fury from corrections officers for shuttering almost a dozen prisons since she took office as the prison population declines and the state fails to retain staff.
A massive illegal wildcat strike by corrections workers last year brought the corrections system to its knees, requiring thousands of National Guardsmen to work at sites at the ongoing cost of millions of dollars a month.
Some state lawmakers of both sides of the political aisle said they were gobsmacked that Hochul is entertaining building a new facility. All of them said they were not even remotely aware of the plan and demanded answers.
“Before spending a single dollar on studying new construction, the state owes taxpayers an honest accounting of the correctional real estate it already owns,” said Assemblyman Scott Gray (R-Jefferson), whose district encompasses several large facilities in the North Country.
He said the state needs to explain why it’s building a new prison instead of rehabbing the old facilities it’s shuttering and whether a new “mega facility” is the precursor to more closures and staff downsizing.
“Across the state, the pattern is the same: facilities close, communities lose economic activity, and properties sit unused with no credible plan for reuse,” Gray said in a statement.
“The state’s track record on this is poor, and the result is significant real estate damage in community after community.”
State Corrections Department spokesman Tom Mailey said the study is “strictly a conceptual exploration, and no decisions have been made.
“We are in the early stages of exploring what a modern facility could look like, focusing on incorporating modern technology and spaces built specifically for rehabilitative and reintegrative programming,” he said in a statement.
“Modernizing our facility-wide technology would improve safety for both staff and incarcerated individuals while allowing us to phase out inefficient, paper-based systems.
“Beyond infrastructure, new facilities present an opportunity to elevate the work of our security and civilian professionals and drive meaningful culture change across the system,” Mailey said.
Hochul rep Jess D’Amelia told The Post on Friday that the study is necessary to evaluate “how to best modernize an aging prison infrastructure,” though cautioned that plans for a new facility are not final.
“Governor Hochul committed to ensuring that state prisons are as safe as possible, which includes evaluating how to best modernize an aging prison infrastructure — some of which has existed for over 200 years,” D’Amelia said.
“While there are currently no plans to build a new facility, this administration remains committed to exploring all avenues to enhance safety for all those within our prison system.”
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