Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D-Round Lake) joined local, state and federal elected officials representing Washington County in a bi-partisan rally, calling on the Governor to keep the Great Medow Correctional Facility open.

“My heart is with you; I’m in this fight with you, and until they turn that key in the lock, this isn’t over!”

Referred to as the backbone of the New York State prisons, Great Meadow Correctional Facility, located in Comstock, New York, is slated to close in the next few months, taking with it over 550 jobs.

When asked what she thought the impact on the community would be, Woerner said, “I measure the impact in children and in families.” Sighting the multiple alternative prisons around New Paltz, Assemblywoman Woerner noted that if you close one or two New Paltz-area prisons, the others can absorb the staff and incarcerated individuals. If Great Meadows closes and your level of seniority is low, you’re most likely being sent to work out west.

“This will tear apart families and neighborhoods!” exclaimed Woerner. With no close alternatives for correctional officer jobs, families, many of whom have begun their careers here, have bought and built homes here, and have children in schools here, will be hard pressed to handle a parent working in Wyoming. What the state is doing will destroy families and we are a family-first state.”

“Closing Great Meadows goes against my values and the values our state leadership touts all the time. So, in the next 70-80 days, Woerner concluded, “Let’s keep fighting, let’s keep asking questions and let’s keep pointing out alternatives because - we’re in this fight together!”