An area correctional facility is slated to close within the next three months.

According to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the Gowanda Correctional Facility is on a list with Watertown and the Clinton Annex that is expected to be closed by the end of March.

In a statement, spokesman Thomas Mailey said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has been at the forefront of some of the nation’s most progressive criminal justice reforms by spearheading a series of smart and fair policies that have closed prisons and decreased incarceration rates, brought accountability and transparency to our criminal justice system, protected the rights of victims and upheld due process, all while ensuring New York residents remain safe and secure.

“Since Gov. Cuomo took office in 2011, the prison population has declined by more than 22,000 — a 39% reduction — from 57,229 to 34,842 people, as of Dec. 21, 2020. In fact, the current DOCCS population is at its lowest level in more than 30 years, with New York leading the nation with the lowest imprisonment rate of any large state,” he said.

Operations at the state’s 52 correctional facilities were reviewed, Mailey said. The decision was based the decision on a variety of factors, including but not limited to physical infrastructure, program offerings, facility security level, specialized medical and mental health services, other facilities in the area to minimize the impact to staff, potential reuse options and areas of the State where prior closures have occurred in order to minimize the impact to communities. “With the closure of these two facilities and the Clinton-Annex, we will be able to absorb the incarcerated population into vacant beds available at other institutions. These closures will result in an annual savings of approximately $89 million and a reduction of around 2,750 beds,” he said.

“DOCCS will work closely with the various bargaining units to provide staff opportunities for priority placement via voluntary transfers and will receive priority in terms of employment at other facilities or other state agencies as a result of the formal Civil Service process that is followed with the closure of a correctional facility. DOCCS does not anticipate any layoffs due to these closures.

“DOCCS will also work cooperatively with the Office of General Services and Economic Development to facilitate the re-use of the closed facilities. Upon closure, DOCCS will begin the decommission process in order to protect the State assets for potential re-use.

Republican chairman Nick Langworthy called the announcement “as cold-hearted and miserly as you can get.”

“The hardworking corrections officers and jail employees have been underappreciated and disrespected when they should be receiving compassion and gratitude for working incredibly difficult jobs under horrible conditions. First, he withheld critical PPE from them and now he is ruining their families’ Christmas and putting them on unemployment lines in areas where his policies have crushed local economies giving the displaced workforce very few opportunities.

“Andrew Cuomo deserves an Emmy after all–for his real-life portrayal of Ebeneezer Scrooge, but unlike Scrooge, there is no redemption for his destruction of New Yorkers’ lives.”