Arthur Kill Correctional Facility

Arthur Kill Correctional Facility was a medium security correctional facility Arthur Kill Road in Charleston, Staten Island, New York City. It opened in 1976 and operated by what was then the New York State Department of Correctional Services. The prison had a capacity of 931 male inmates.

The prison property bordered Arthur Kill, a waterway that separates Staten Island from New Jersey. The 260-acre (1.1 km2) Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve is located just south of the prison site. Part of its site contains buried truck trailers and is potentially contaminated; the decision was made to "deal" with the abandoned trailers' contents in this way.

History

Opened in 1976, the site formerly served as a 650-bed drug rehabilitation center, with an indoor swimming pool (closed when it became a prison);[1] the housing of that unit was destroyed by fire. Sixteen housing (dormitory) units, the medical building and the SHU or Special Housing Unit were built just before or while it was a prison. In the summer of 2006, the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility was used to shoot scenes for the juvenile detention center shown in the film Tenderness.[2]

The facility was closed in 2011 as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo's prison closing program.[3] At the time, the prison had 408 employees, including 315 security employees.[4] Because of dropping prison population, due to revised sentencing guidelines, some prisons were to be closed. Upstate lawmakers were adamant that it shouldn't be just upstate prisons. The other prisons closed in 2011 — Buffalo, Fulton, Mid-Orange, Mt. McGregor, Oneida, Summit — were all upstate.[3]

Following the prison's closure, Broadway Stages, which already operates sound stages elsewhere in the city, negotiated with New York State to purchase the prison property for use in films and productions needing "real" prison experiences.[5][6] In May 2017, Broadway Stages announced it was filming the upcoming Ocean's 8 project at the facility.[7] In addition, the 2018 and 2019, the 6th and 7th season of Orange Is the New Black are filmed at the facility.[8]

References
  1. "PRISON IS OPPOSED ON STATEN ISLAND; Plan to Convert Drug Center Criticized at Hearing". The New York Times. April 21, 1976. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  2. Benanti, Carol Ann (August 2, 2006). "Arthur Kill prison to appear in film". Staten Island Advance.
  3. "Governor Cuomo Announces Closure of Seven State Prison Facilities" (Press release). June 30, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  4. Annese John and Tom Wrobleski. "N.Y. Gov. Cuomo orders Staten Island's Arthur Kill Correctional Facility closed." Staten Island Advance. Friday July 1, 2011. Retrieved on September 19, 2012.
  5. Geiger, Daniel (9 August 2017). "Old Arthur Kill prison property finally OK'd to become film and TV soundstages". Crain's New York Business. Crain Communications Inc. Crain.
  6. LA GUERRE, LIAM (8 August 2017). "Broadway Stages Completes Purchase of Former Staten Island Prison". Commercial Observer. Observer Media. Commercial Observer.
  7. Bitette, Nicole (5 May 2017). "'Ocean's 8' will film at former Staten Island prison". NY Daily News. NYDailyNews.com. New York Daily News.
  8. Staten Island, Advance (8 September 2017). "No guards, no prisoners: Remains of Arthur Kill prison, in 63 arresting images". SILive.com. Advance Digital. SILive.

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