Three NYC state prisons slated for closure

Three of the city’s six state prisons are on the chopping block as Gov. Cuomo zeros in on cost-cutting measures to curb a $10 billion budget deficit, according to the Post. The three prisons — including minimum-security Facilities Lincoln On West 110th Street and Fulton on Fulton Avenue in the Bronx, as well as 550 West 20th Street’s women’s prison, Bayview — are particularly underused and overstaffed. Across the three prisons, there are currently 571 inmates and a staggering 372 workers that cost the state $28 million a year, or $49,036 per inmate. Fulton, which can house as many as 258 inmates, is 53 percent vacant. Lincoln, which is designed to house 283, is 41 percent vacant, while the 183-bed Bayview’s vacancy rate is 34 percent. “An incarceration program is not an employment program,” Cuomo had said in his State of the State speech earlier this month. “If people need jobs, let’s get people jobs. Don’t put other people in prison to give some people jobs.” Cuomo is expected to announce at least six prisons targeted for closure statewide in his proposed state budget next week. [Post]