Friday, January 28, 2011

NYP:Lockdown $hutdown

Bayview Corrctional Facility, 11 Ave. Mahatten
The big day is Tuesday, Governor Cuomo will release his 2011 budget that should bring special interest groups out of their foxholes...the fighting will begin!  It appears prison closures will not be North of the Thruway only, as it was with the Democratic controlled Senate, Assembly, and Governor.  Bayview, Lincoln, and Fulton I believe are work release prisons which have been under utilized for years.  Strange, they were not included in the closures last year.

The upstate Republicans will not be able to cry foul if a prison is closed in the North County.  Times are tough and sacrifices will need to be made by all.  These NYC facilities are small Work Release facilities and the closure of all three would be equivalent to closing either Ogdensburg or Watertown Correctional Facility.

These NYC facilities are located on prime real estate, investors will be looking to develop this property.  Sale of the property would help the deficit and put it back on the tax role.

Todays weather was 62 degrees and sunny by Lake George, that is Lake George Fl.  Hopefully I will be hitting a few balls in the next week.

NYP Article 

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I posted last night on the mayors site that its up to Pat Ritchie which prison will close. Dry Hill in the watertown area is a good choice but my inside info says she is about to bend over and agree to close OCF . Favors owed Matt Doheny you know from his donations during her campaign. If Dry Hill is spared its Dohenys influence in the GOP that will close OCF. The logical choice is Dry Hill with OCF close behind...

Anonymous said...

Your not far from being correct. OCF will be spared until late August then will be closed. One facility in Jefferson Co will be shut down immediately and the guess is Watertown Correctional. One in Malone area is slated to cutting.. Also the predator unit in Ogdensburg will see a drastic staffing cut and closure within two years. Park Police will be cut drasticly but I think thats a godsend. Some ofthe Authorities will disappear

Anonymous said...

Close OCF and the Predator facility and any other boondoggles and cut the Authorities to the BONE !!

There is simply no need for competing , overlapping , redundant, political fiefdoms that accomplish little to nothing but provide former politicians like Jim Wright and others to continue to feed at the public trough.

These and other permanannt cuts must be made . SUNY and the Schools must be consolidated and made more efficient and achieve economies of scale -- the time to act is NOW. , well in advance of the next election .

This is time for Systemic changes and transformational leadership to emerge IF NYS is to EVER regain its former prominence

Anonymous said...

Blogger is feeding in to fred dicker of the NY Post and reporting as if it to be gospel. Give me a break. Nobody knows what to expect. It will be gloom and doom. It bothers me that some people what these facilities closed. With the closures of these economic engines (whether you believe them to be tools of economic stability or not) would increase crime, social unrest and more welfare recipients than now. Unfortunately for now these jobs keep some buying power in our region.

Anonymous said...

149. Your comments are so untrue . These facilities have bred crime in this region. Are we to give COs jobs just to be a job fare region. Welfare is truely to blame but only because its people like you that dont want to really help our area you just want to work and make money off the restof us. How can anyone justify having almost as many staff in these prisons as inmates..
Local leadership has failed us by failing to get industry into this area. Rather they have attempted to make us a welfare county or a state, county and local CSEA county. Theres no in between..

Anonymous said...

Tell me 256 what is the ratio of staff to inmates. Show me how it has bred crime. Please give me credible stats that prove it. Local leadership lacks no doubt. Is it a regional issue or local issue. Prisons are all the way up to Plattsburg and take a good look in the western part of the state. Buffalo's industry is in prisons now, twice as many as in the north. Your a disgruntled taxpayer no doubt and justified. Don't hold the working in your area responsible for the decisions of lawqmakers to build prisons and maintain decent employment over your angst

Anonymous said...

Crime in SLC has doubled over the last twenty years and thats a fact. Law enforcement wont make those figure available only at times when they need them for their benefit. Inmate populations are down but staffing remains the same in these prisons. This is money out of our pockets. The Western part of the state is not my business SLC is. they need to and will consolidate the prisons and shut the deadwood down. I understand your concern. The bottom line is that your job will be somewhere else instead of here and you know it. Attrition will keep you working but again that is no concern of ours. We pay for that also.
Prisons are necessary but could be privatized as in other states. They simply cst too much to maintain. We need less fluff in our lives and that starts with Prison staffing which is mandated but totally unnecessary.. Remove the mandates from County level jails and some staffing mandates in prisons and it would help considerably.

Anonymous said...

519. Have you any idea how many people from this area work downstate in hopes of working at least within an hours drive of their home. Over 600 men and women in security and civilian items just for the Ogd jails, triple that # for the jails in Malone and Watertown. Doesn't that tell you something!?

Maybe they should stay home and collect the welfare such as the bartender in Massena who reported making $8000 last year and is set to get an income tax return of over $11000. Oh did I mention that she listed her 21 year old lacky brother as a dependent on her return who lives with her. Not done yet, free college and lap top all compliments of this glorious state. She should be behind bars. Her mistake was telling some officers that she makes around $350 a weekend in tips. You have the audacity to rip into people who choose to provide for their family instead of cheat the system. Your unbelievable. A job is a job and these jails provide a good living in this area

Crime in the county is an issue not to be ignored but to blame a community that has prison in it can not be substantiated by you or anyone else. Industry is falling apart due to neglect of your state and federal elected officials, NOT THE WORKING men and women

Anonymous said...

Not knocking the working men and women. I,m knocking the officals who have let this inmate reduction go on without cutting some items to save us some dollars.
Right now we need the COs but not at the salaries they make. Babysitters for the most part. In max prisons I can understand.
I talk to Cos daily. Most of them are realistic and to like you. Something has to give. Should it be downstate or upstate.Prisons have to close. The authorities in this state have to be trimmed. We need to get rid of politicans staff. We need to set term limits. We need to consolidate our schools and have less superintendants.
Prisons are top heavy also.. With Supers, Co.s Sgt. Lt. Captains and Corporals Why so much flufff all over this state.

Anonymous said...

Wah wah Wah cut the damn prison and move on -- end of story .

The whole notion for privitization is LONG overdue. Nyscopba got greedy just like Nysut , Csea , Pef UUp and have priced themselves out of business . Their babysitting services can be provided more cost efficiently in the private sector . SO bust the system , change the law and PRIVITIZE now .. The system is broken

Poly Information said...

I do believe prisons have brought some of the scum into the area but they are not the problem. Believe it or not Fort Drum has impacted Ogdensburg more that the prisons every have or will.
The housing shortage 10 years ago in Watertown, when the Fort added 50,000 troops with their families, had a major impact on the area. Rents increased to %700.00 plus/month and forced every low life to relocate. Gouverneur to Watertown rents increased and families re-located into areas of low rent, with public transportation, with Walmart, and no competitive market for housing. That sounds like Ogdensburg!

Canton and Potsdam have major colleges housing and housing in rural areas are not conducive to low income individuals, therefore Ogd. inherits the left overs. With the three major employers in Ogdensburg being the hospital, school system, and State jobs there is not a big demand for housing. There has been little or no job creation in the area and loss of these jobs would add to the demise of Ogdensburg.

Anonymous said...

There is NO doubt that Fort Drum has had a very negative effect on social decline in Ogdensburg , you are correct and the prison and pervert resort has accellerated that decline .

Our politicians SOLD OUT and opted for the lowest common denominator and were never aggressive or strategically intelligent enough to devise , develop and market the region in order to capture both the re-gentrification market and all the small business and retail and commercial development that follows such re-gentrification . It has been DONE in many communities that formerly were "shit pits" and are now experiencing a Rennaissance .

That's Ogdensburg's real problem Low or No ASPIRATIONS AND NO LEADERSHIP THAT IS BOLD ENOUGH TO THINK STRATEGICALLY, REJECT MEDIOCRITY OR BOTTOM FEEDER TYPE PROGRAMS LIKE PRISONS AND PERVERT RESORTS AND OPT TO ACHIEVE HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

Anonymous said...

I agree with Polyinformation, if you do not work for school, hospital, or the state you are in the minority. I work for the hospital and we have OK benefits, but 65 - 70% of our patients are from Medicaid reimbursement. Cuts to this system will have a major impact on our hospital.
It is hard to believe the teachers would get 3 consecutive raises in tight fiscal times. This boggles my mind. What will happen in the hospital is yet to be decided.

We need to keep every job in our area. Without these working individuals who will invest in the City. Who will maintain their homes, who will pay the taxes, and shop at local stores? Without these jobs more welfare and drug dealers will move into the area.

Sometimes you should be careful what you ask for!

Anonymous said...

I havnt agreed with Pol very often but on this I agree. However we have a city government made up of officals and politicans who are not friendly to business. One prime example is the cheese plant. All appearances are that the city is at fault for driving it out along with the former owner. What was done to help the three or four businesses in the Bridge park that closed over the last year? Nothing. In fact one closing was politically ignited by a Congressional wannabe .. I hate to see the prisons close but I want to see a rational reason to leave them open. Because it would affect us is not a good reason. Todays paper stated Pat Ritchie toured the prisons she was impressed by how clean they were. Wow, the inmates were made mop everythign prior to her getting there. I need to see figures. How many inmates to how many hacks. How much office help can be eliminated. I need to see how much maintence is pending on any of them and which one costs the most. I dont care how many men from this area work away from here and want to come home. They made their own choices now they have to live with them. Nothing but Nothing wants to locate here in NNY. SuperWalmarts included... Fort Drum was a big part of the problem with drugs and lowincome living and crime in general in this area but our local politicans are the big reasons. We elect people like Powers who thinks only of prisons and retirement, Vaugh who wants to be Governor some day obviously. Nelson has done a great job for years but hes burnt out now, Morley, Skamp, Cilley and Shollette should be leading us out of the past and into the future but they s it back and shy away from responsibilities...

Anonymous said...

Ogdensburg has already sealed its fate -- its cooked ! The geniuses that brought prisons and pervs to the city sunk any hope of ever generating a real quality of life here . And anyone with a brain would NEVER move a business here that generated a serious professional staff . Who would ever CHOOSE to live in a hellhole that Ogdensburg has become with drug dealers , murderers and street crime being its principle product .

When will these crimes be SOLVED ??? Where in hell is the OUTRAGE at what has been and continues to go on in this city ? The lack of CONCERN about these issues on the part of MOST is the greatest detriment to ever seeing improvemnent .

City Hall is asleep has been asleep and will never bring about any LASTING IMPROVEMENT in the condition of this city.

It is like watching a surreal movie in which everyone ACCEPTS the total disintegration of society as we know it -----------Shameful

"Keep drinking the Kool Aid - -don't worry be Happy " is this City's motto