Monday morning, I’ll be reporting on the long, painful debate in the North Country over the future of the region’s prison industry.<\/p>\n
With eighteen correctional facilities in the North Country, prisons are a mainstay — perhaps even the<\/em> mainstay of our region’s economy — but there are indications that Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans big changes.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, he will reveal his first big budget plan for closing the state’s $11 billion deficit.<\/p>\n The Watertown Daily Times<\/a> is reporting that Gov. Cuomo’s promise to leave Ogdensburg’s state prisons untouched is “in play.”<\/p>\n St. Lawrence County Legislator Vernon D. “Sam” Burns, D-Ogdensburg, said he was there when Mr. Cuomo made the campaign promise and believes he will stand by it.<\/p>\n “I hope he remembers the devastating economic effect that closing any of the prisons in this hub would have to the area,” Mr. Burns said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Moriah town supervisor Tom Scozzafava told NCPR that he has also spoken personally with the Cuomo administration, hoping to lock in the future of his community’s state-run “shock camp.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, NCPR<\/a> and the Plattsburgh Press-Republican<\/a> have reported on the struggles communities have already faced trying to find new uses for former prisons in Brighton and Lyon Mountain.<\/p>\n Empire State Development officials remained adamant Friday that they will continue to closely work on the [Lyon Mountain] facility’s future but that the agency has no funding to aid any marketing efforts.<\/p>\n Preliminary inquires have been made about the property but none with a strong interest so far…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How bad could closures be?\u00a0 Some prison reform advocates are pushing for the closure of between 5-10 correctional facilities statewide.<\/p>\n