Exclusive | Hochul explores building NYs largest prison after taking heat for shutting slew of others

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, com...