Full List of Private Prisons in the State of New York
This article brings you everything about private prisons in the state of New York, including the latest news.
Despite Washington DC being the capital of the United States, New York is undoubtedly the most popular city in the US. This metropolitan city, known for its nightlife, grandeur, and natural beauty, is also home to prisons.
These prisons, operated by the federal or state government, keep inmates and offenders from New York and other regions. New York has 44 prisons in total right now. This article brings you everything you need to know about the private prisons in the state of New York.
Let’s dive in!
Private Prison Dynamics in the US
Reports by Sentenceproject.org showed that private prisons in the US incarcerated 128,063 individuals in 2016. This number has increased incredibly in the past few years; most of those incarcerated are brown and black, raising eyebrows that it is more than just incarcerating people for their wrongdoings.
The incarceration numbers skyrocketed when the Trump government took over.
Many analysts mentioned that it is a source of revenue for private prisons as they charge the state per prisoner cost. Some people also called it a legalized form of slavery. However, New York State started taking radical steps to avoid incarcerating so many people.
List of Private Prisons in the State of New York
Currently, there is no list of private prisons in the state of New York, as New York State banned private prisons. However, the state still holds prisoners in state and federal prisons and county jails.
Private Prison Ban in New York
New York was the first state to take action against private prisons, considering them only a revenue opportunity for private prison companies. The state government believes that these prisons have not been facilitating the prisoners. Instead, they have been focused on making money. New York State took three drastic steps toward eliminating private prisons:
- It prohibited companies from operating private prisons within the state.
- The state government passed Bill S5433 in the State Senate, which restricts NY State-chartered banks from “investing in and providing financing to private prisons.”
- It also removed the state pension funds from CoreCivic and GEO group, the largest private prison companies in the USA.
Senator Benjamin mentioned, “The goal is to starve private prisons of capital. My constituents do not put their hard-earned savings in a bank like the one we are standing in front of today expecting that those funds will be used to finance mass incarceration. Whether through organizing and community pressure, or tools like the bill I am announcing here today, we can and we must bring an end to private prisons.”
He added, “We sometimes forget that local government can truly make a difference. I hope that our work in New York to support a transition to a justice system focused on serving people, not making profits, inspires other states to take action — whether through divestment or by similarly limiting bank financing.”
Furthermore, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer also did not shy away from calling out financial institutions for financing private prisons. He said, “Private prisons built a billion dollar business by capitalizing on human suffering – and Bank of America is complicit.
The industry is not just inhumane, it’s a huge risk financially. That’s why we in New York City took a stand and became the first public pension fund in the country to divest from the abhorrent industry. We’ve shown that divesting from private prisons is the right and smart thing to do. Bank of America should follow our lead – now.”
Action Against Private Prisons in New York
Prohibiting Operation
New York was one of the three states that first prohibited the operation of private prisons in the state prison system. The state government rolled out this rule in 2007 under A 4484-B / S4118 by Assembly Member Ortiz and State Senator Nozzolio.
It mentioned, “In the effort forced upon state and local governments to cut operating costs, some are turning to the privatization of prisons. Inevitably, hungry, bottom-line adventurers appear ready to take the public money."
Divesting Private Prisons
New York state divested $10 million from GEO Group and CoreCivic under the state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s leadership. While $10 million is not a lot considering the state’s $207B pension fund, small steps could lead to major changes eventually.
Restricting Banks from Financing Private Prisons
Furthermore, in 2019, the New York State Senate passed Bill S5433, restricting NY-chartered backs from financing private prisons.
These prisons are organized as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which is why prohibiting banks makes a significant impact. These prisons distribute around 90% of their profits and eventually rely on bank financing.
Banks do not disclose how much they exactly contribute to private prisons financing; however, collective data by #FamiliesBelongTogether is available on the internet. CoreCivic has seven bonds over $1.516 billion with financing from Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, US Bank, Fifth Third, FTN Financial, Citizens Bank, SunTrust, Wells Fargo, HSBC, RBS, PNC, BB&T, Regions, Macquarie Capital, Canaccord Genuity, and Avondale Partners.
Similarly, the GEO group has a $900 million revolving credit line with a syndicate of six banks, including Barclays, Bank of America, SunTrust, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and BNP Paribas. The private prison company has borrowed $490.8 million and owed the bank $786 million through its term loan.
Private prison lobbyists who had spent over $25 million lobbying tried killing the bill, but Senator Benjamin and his team worked to remove private prisons from the New York criminal justice system completely. Thus, New York does not have any private prisons in the state.
New York Prison Stats 2019
- Prisons in New York: 54
- Prisoners in New York prisons: 43,500
- Jails in New York: 62
- Jail population in New York: 20,500
- State prison facility staff in New York: 19,094
- State-opened facilities budget: $3.295 billion
- Community corrections population under probation: 88,879
- Community corrections population under parole: 44,917
- The incarceration rate in New York State: 224
- Violent crime rate: 358
- Property crime rate: 1,373
List of NY State Prisons
- Adirondack Correctional Facility
- Albion Correctional Facility
- Altona Correctional Facility
- Attica Correctional Facility
- Auburn Correctional Facility
- Bare Hill Correctional Facility
- Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
- Cayuga Correctional Facility
- Clinton Correctional Facility
- Collins Correctional Facility
- Coxsackie Correctional Facility
- Eastern Correctional Facility
- Elmira Correctional Facility
- Fishkill Correctional Facility
- Five Points Correctional Facility
- Franklin Correctional Facility
- Gouverneur Correctional Facility
- Great Meadow Correctional Facility
- Green Haven Correctional Facility
- Greene Correctional Facility
- Groveland Correctional Facility
- Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility
- Marcy Correctional Facility
- Mid-State Correctional Facility
- Mohawk Correctional Facility
- Orleans Correctional Facility
- Otisville Correctional Facility
- Riverview Correctional Facility
- Shawangunk Correctional Facility
- Sing Sing Correctional Facility
- Sullivan Correctional Facility
- Taconic Correctional Facility
- Upstate Correctional Facility
- Wallkill Correctional Facility
- Washington Correctional Facility
- Wende Correctional Facility
- Woodbourne Correctional Facility
- Wyoming Correctional Facility
Read A List of Private Prisons in The State of New Mexico
New York Federal Prisons by Security Level
Administrative-Security Federal Prisons in New York
- MDC Brooklyn (Brooklyn, NY)
- MCC New York (New York, NY)
Minimum-Security Federal Prisons in New York
- FCI Otisville Camp (Otisville, NY)
Medium-Security Federal Prisons in New York
- FCI Otisville (Otisville, NY)
- FCI Ray Brook (Ray Brook, NY)
Women’s Prisons in New York
- MDC Brooklyn
- MCC New York
- Albion Correctional Facility
- Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
- Edgecombe Residential Treatment Facility
- Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility
- Taconic Correctional Facility
- Willard Drug Treatment Campus
Read the Full List of Private Prisons in the State of New Jersey
Final Words
While this article did not have a list of the private prisons in the state of New York, we brought you all the important information regarding private prisons in the state. New York was among the first states to take action against private prisons and stop the commercialization of prisons.
The New York State government halted private prison operations to stop the increasing number of prisoners in these facilities. And the state has not had any issues maintaining the prison population in federal and state prisons.