Status open Phone +1 845-831-6600 | Security class maximum Opened 1979 | |
Location 121 Red Schoolhouse Road
Fishkill, New York Managed by New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Address 121 Red Schoolhouse Rd, Fishkill, NY 12524, USA District New York State Department Of Correctional Services School District Similar Fishkill Correctio Facility, Extended Stay America, Blodgett Memorial Library, Dutchess Stadium | ||
Downstate Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison in the Town of Fishkill in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
Downstate is a maximum-security prison located along the north side (i.e. westbound) of Interstate 84. Downstate serves primarily as a classification center, as it is, along with Elmira Correctional Facility and Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (women), a reception facility for new inmates entering the New York State prison system. New inmates typically wait at Downstate for a few weeks before they are assigned to a permanent facility. The "permanent" prisoners - those who work in the kitchens, laundry, etc., which those in transit cannot do - are referred to as the "cadre" and are all maximum-security prisoners (sentenced to seven years or more). As the vast majority of inmates in New York State come from New York City, the Town of Fishkill (in southern Dutchess County) was chosen due to its proximity to the greater New York metropolitan area. It opened in 1979.
Downstate is near to the state's medium security Fishkill Correctional Facility.
History
In 2016 Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, criminally charged three prison guards at Downstate with beating a black inmate, and two other prison guards with filing false reports.