 | |
| Location | 121 Red Schoolhouse Road Fishkill, New York |
|---|---|
| Status | closed 2022 |
| Security class | Maximum |
| Opened | 1979 |
| Closed | 2022 |
| Managed by | New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision |
Downstate Correctional Facility was a maximum-security prison in the Town of Fishkill in the Hudson Valley region of New York. [1] It was located along the north side (i.e. westbound) of Interstate 84, opening in 1979 and closing in 2022.
As the vast majority of inmates in New York State come from New York City, the Town of Fishkill, located in southern Dutchess County, was chosen as prison site due to its proximity to the greater New York metropolitan area.
Downstate was right across Interstate 84 from New York state's former psychiatric hospital, which since 1976 has been known as Fishkill Correctional Facility, a multi-level security prison. It was also adjacent to Dutchess Stadium, home field of the Hudson Valley Renegades.
In 2016 Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, criminally charged three correctional officers at Downstate with beating an inmate, and two other officers with filing false reports. [2]
On March 10, 2022, Downstate Correctional Facility was permanently closed, due to a declining prison population in New York state. The state estimated that the closure would result in a savings of $142 million. [3] [4] The staff and inmates were transferred to other facilities within the system.
In December 2022, the New York State Prison Redevelopment Commission discussed plans to market and redevelop the site, along with other New York prisons closed in recent years. [5]
Along with Elmira Correctional Facility and Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (women), Downstate served primarily as a classification and reception facility for new inmates entering the New York State prison system. New inmates typically waited at Downstate for a few weeks before they were assigned to a permanent facility. The "permanent" prisoners—those who worked in the kitchens, laundry, etc., which those in transit could not do—were referred to as the "cadre" and were all maximum-security prisoners, with sentences of at minimum seven years.
Cells in Downstate were organized into four wings around a large and exactly square room called The Square, which was the junction point for the four wings and contained a staffed waiting room. Inmate movement was scheduled and tightly controlled. An inmate who required medical attention had to be escorted to the infirmary by an officer. Shower opportunities were also scheduled.
Services such as reception, clothes, pharmacy, medical, commissary, chapel, mail, packages, visiting, and cafeteria were all centrally located, but there were small libraries in each of the wings. There was a professional librarian, who supervised cadre workers at two locations, and a part-time rabbi. Library visits were short, scheduled, and in groups. There were dropboxes in the wings where prisoners being moved out of the facility, as most soon were after arrival, could deposit any library books that they had checked out.
For many years, there was a softball field outside the prison building, used mainly by the cadre. Recreation could consist of an hour in a room with twenty other inmates and a television.
Beekman is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is part of the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The population was 14,172 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Henry Beekman, a 17th-century land owner.
Fishkill is a village within the town of Fishkill in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The village is in the eastern part of the town of Fishkill on U.S. Route 9. It is north of Interstate 84. NY 52 is the main street. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The first U. S. Post Office in New York state was established in Fishkill by Samuel Loudon, its first Postmaster.
Fishkill is a town in the southwestern part of Dutchess County, New York, United States. It lies approximately 60 miles (97 km) north of New York City. The population was 24,226 at the 2010 census. Fishkill surrounds the city of Beacon, and contains a village, which is also named Fishkill.
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Green Haven Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in New York, United States. The prison is located in the Town of Beekman in Dutchess County. The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision lists the address as Route 216, Stormville, New York 12582. This prison housed New York's execution chamber during the time the state briefly had the death penalty in the post-Furman era. It was originally a federal prison and now houses maximum security inmates. Green Haven Correctional Facility also operated a Hot Kosher Foods Program; but no longer does as of 2020. However, because of this, the prison had a large Jewish population. Yale Law School operates the Green Haven Prison Project, a series of seminars among Yale law students and Green Haven inmates on law and policy issues concerning prisons and criminal law.
Fishkill Correctional Facility is a multi-security level prison in New York, United States. The prison is located in both the Town of Fishkill and the City of Beacon in Dutchess County. Fishkill was constructed in 1896. It began as the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| Minimum security |
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Above facilities are male-only unless noted by ♀(female) or ♂♀ (unisex) | |
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