Gov.'s budget targets Camp Pharsalia for closure

PHARSALIA –Gov. David Paterson’s proposed 2009-10 state budget cuts call for the closure of Camp Pharsalia.

This is the second time since November that the governor has aimed to cut back at the minimum security facility, which state officials claim is below 50 percent capacity and needs to be consolidated into other facilities.

“I’m not happy about this. Pharsalia has been an ongoing saga for many years. It gets tougher and tougher every year to keep it open,” said Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton.

This is hardly the first time the prison facility has found itself posed on the state’s chopping block.

Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s 2008-09 budget proposal also called for its closure, but local state representatives in the districts were able to convince the state to reverse it plans.

The New York State Department of Correctional Services began implementing an $8.7 million savings plan in November that closed one of camp’s housing units.

This action was part of a larger state move called for by Gov. Paterson to reduce housing in 15 prisons.