Gov. Kathy Hochul will announce the closure of another state prison on Tuesday as her administration struggles to grapple with an ongoing staffing crisis, The Post has learned.
Hochul’s administration is set to announce the closure Bare Hill Correctional Facility in Franklin County and part of Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County, DOCCS confirmed in a statement Tuesday.
The move was approved by Democratic lawmakers in this year’s state budget deal, passed in May, that allowed Hochul to close up to three prisons.
The Governor’s announcement comes as she’s set to be in Washington, D.C. Wednesday to raise money and meet with backers for her 2026 reelection campaign.
Earlier this year, thousands of corrections officers walked off the job in an illegal three-week wildcat strike.
When Hochul’s administration declared an end to the strike in April, she fired around 2,000 officers, many of whom had refused to return to work.
The prison system is now upwards of 4,000 personnel short and has continued to pay millions for national guard troops to back up the short-staffed facilities since the strike according to a recent court filing by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, DOCCS.
The state shuttered two facilities just before Christmas last year.
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DOCCS maintained that staff at Bare Hill will be offered positions at other facilities, though its unclear how many of the 293 staff assigned to the facility will relocate.
DOCCS did not specify if the consolidation of Collins would involve staff reductions.
The agency also noted that both facilities would remain in a “state of ready”, meaning they won’t be completely shuttered.
Upstate pols were quick to condemn Hochul’s move.
“This is another heartless announcement just before the holiday season. Mark my words, correctional officers across the state will be part of our coalition next year that will fire Kathy Hochul to Save New York,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) who reps Bare Hill and is running against Hochul for governor next year told The Post
