In her 2026 State of the State agenda, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a proposal for a constitutional amendment aimed at repurposing several former correctional facilities in New York’s North Country. The governor’s plan specifically mentions Camp Gabriels, Moriah Shock, and Mount McGregor as sites that currently remain unused and present both environmental hazards and lost opportunities for local residents.
“…today, several former correctional facilities – Camp Gabriels, Moriah Shock and Mount McGregor – sit dormant. These crumbling sites are more than just eyesores; they are environmental hazards and lost opportunities for the people who call the North Country home. To address this, Governor Hochul will propose a constitutional amendment to return these underutilized sites to productive and critically-needed uses,” Hochul stated in her agenda.
Part of the proposed strategy includes expanding the Forest Preserve by adding land from these sites. While this initiative has been welcomed by some lawmakers, it is not seen as a new idea. State Senator Daniel G. Stec noted that he has previously advocated for similar measures throughout his tenure in the Senate.
“For five years, I’ve sponsored legislation to facilitate the sale of Camp Gabriels in the Town of Brighton in Franklin County, while ensuring that the funds from the sale go toward forest preserve acquisition in the Adirondack Park. While it’s passed the senate each time, it gets held up in the assembly. A major sticking point continues to be the amount of land to be added to the forest preserve. Meanwhile, the Camp Gabriels property lays dormant. Not only is that bad for our region financially, keeping a valuable property from being used as an economic driver, it is also an environmental concern.
“The longer the Camp Gabriels facility stays dormant, the risk of this blight becoming an environmental hazard increases. And that’s to say nothing of the fact that the shifting goalposts around Camp Gabriels—one of several closed, dormant prisons in the Adirondacks that’s in a state of deterioration—has only ensured that no new land is being added to the forest preserve while increasing the chances of long-term safety and environmental problems on these grounds.”
Senator Stec further pointed out his continued efforts regarding other properties such as Moriah Shock and Great Meadows Correctional Facility in Washington County—a site he says was omitted from Governor Hochul’s plan but also requires urgent attention.
Stec attributed delays in progress on repurposing these properties to legislative gridlock within New York’s Assembly and changing demands among advocacy groups over how much land should be added to protected areas like Adirondack Park.
Through a confluence of factors – legislative inertia in the Assembly, where the Camp Gabriels amendment I’ve sponsored and passed in Senate five times has failed to pass, and shifting goal posts on part of environmental advocates – constitutional amendments for these sites have continued to be stymied,” said Stec.
He concluded with cautious optimism about Governor Hochul’s announcement: “The fact that Governor Hochul saw fit to include a constitutional amendment for prison reuse in State of State agenda—the blueprint for her strategy this year—is recognition of that fact…With inclusion of prison reuse in her agenda this year, it seems that Governor Hochul is finally responding and joining my longstanding effort.
Welcome aboard governor.”
