Governor Hochul Announces Launch of Prison Redevelopment Commission

Osborne’s former President & CEO Elizabeth Gaynes has been named a member of the Prison Redevelopment Commission launched by New York Governor Kathy Hochul yesterday. This is a remarkable opportunity to reimagine innovative, community-centered uses for closed prisons across New York State and for Elizabeth Gaynes to contribute Osborne’s experience converting the Fulton Correctional Facility into a soon-to-open community reentry center to the statewide effort.

In the Governors Press Release, Elizabeth Gaynes, said, “It’s been over a century since the Osborne Association’s founder was warden of Sing Sing and vowed to ‘turn this scrap heap into a repair shop. Since that time, Osborne has been committed to transforming prisons for the people who live in them, visit them and work in them. But while dozens of prisons have opened and closed during that time, there has never been the opportunity to strengthen New York’s economy and meet the needs of communities affected by closures that is now possible through this Commission. For more than six years, Osborne has been working -- with the support of the State, New York City, private philanthropy, commercial lenders, and the people of the Bronx -- to convert the decommissioned Fulton Correctional Facility into a community reentry center providing transitional housing to more than 130 people coming home from prison. I am excited to bring my experiences from that effort, and from decades of working in prisons in every part of the state, to this commission and to learn from stakeholders about how these resources can be repurposed to meet community needs.”

Read the full press release here.