William “Bill” Edwin Leslie of Fredonia, N.Y., went home to his Lord and Savior on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. Bill was born on Sept. 14, 1945 to Otis and Ell
State officials are expected to announce the closure of multiple state prisons in the coming days with the goal to shutter more facilities by Labor Day.
There is much about the closure of the Gowanda Correctional Facility that does not make sense.
That shouldn’t be surprising seeing New York state government is involved. Now that the last prisoners are out of the facility, though, now is the time to stop thinking about what New York state officials were thinking about when they chose to close the prison facility, but instead to focus on what comes next.
It’s a perceived feather in the cap of Gov. Andrew Cuomo to close prisons, and he will do so whenever possible. With that fact in mind, local officials had little chance of changing the state’s decision to close the Gowanda Correctional Facility. It was a fight that needed to be fought, but one that could not be won.
adolce@observertoday.com
An empty parking lot is pictured at the Gowanda Correctional Facility following its official closure this week. All of the remaining inmates have been relocated to other facilities.
OBSERVER Photo By Anthony Dolce
GOWANDA As Wednesday came and went, so did the remaining inmates and staff at the Gowanda Correctional Facility.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year named the Gowanda facility as one of three statewide to close due to, among other reasons, a decline in the prison population. Over the course of the last few months, inmates and staff at the prison have been relocated to other sites in New York state.