North Country Assemblyman Mark Walczyk, R-Watertown, said that Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the North Country “a lump of coal” when he announced that a North Country prison will close early next year.

The Watertown Correctional Facility will close at the end of March, Cuomo announced Monday. Prisons in Ogdensburg and Gouverneur are expected to remain open.

"I’m going to state an obvious fact: St. Lawrence and Jefferson Counties are home to some of the bravest corrections officers you’ll find anywhere,” Walczyk said. “The Governor’s decision to close the Watertown Correctional Facility is an incredibly poor decision, especially this close to the Christmas Holiday. No person who literally risks their life to protect New Yorkers should have this news handed down to them by someone running state government by fiat.

During this time when the state’s economy is hanging by a thread, instead of applying some common sense by cutting spending and government programs, one person, who thrust this power onto himself, has made the decision to put countless people out of work and even more criminals back on the streets. The Governor alone made this decision.”

The assemblyman said the Watertown Correctional Facility is “one of the more efficient and modern in the state’s system.” “If the Governor really wants to downsize, he should be looking downstate. Those facilities have more real estate value and cost way more to operate.”

Walczyk, who was recently named to the Assembly’s Corrections Committee, says he will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with brave North Country COs and other elected officials to push back against this “shortsighted” decision.

“Governor Cuomo just gave North Country families a lump of coal. He should be ashamed,” Walczyk said.