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| Last Call at the Iron Bars |
| By Brian Rubin |
| Published: 04/23/2009 |
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ALBANY – A familiar aspect of life in the Town of Wawarsing will soon be disappearing, as the New York State Department of Corrections (DOC) has announced the closures of several minimum and medium security facilities, putting an end to the prison work crews that continuously provide services to buildings and institutions throughout the town. The DOC will be closing the annexes at Eastern and Sullivan Correctional Facilities, medium security sections of the maximum security prisons. The annexes provide 12 work crews between them — two at Eastern and 10 at Sullivan — and are part of a larger series of closures that are a response to the state's mandated budget cuts. With the annexes at Eastern and Sullivan, the DOC will also be closing annexes at Green Haven in Dutchess County, Groveland in Livingston County, Lakeview in Chautauqua County, and Washington, in Sullivan County, as well as the minimum security portion of Wayne County's Butler Correctional Facility. The closures are set to take effect by October of this year. Even sooner, by July 1 the department will close Franklin County's Camp Gabriels, Camp Pharsalia in Chenango County, and Saratoga County's Camp Mount McGregor. The closures will save the state an estimated $20 million this year, and $30 million in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, says Erik Kriss, a DOC spokesperson. According to a press release from Donn Rowe, the president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOBA), the closures will contribute to an overcrowding problem. "Our prisons, which currently operate at 104 percent capacity, are already overcrowded and understaffed and these cuts will only exacerbate an already dangerous situation, endangering the lives of corrections officers and increasing the risk of inmate violence," he said in the release. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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