Downstate Correctional Facility

Downstate Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison in the Town of Fishkill in the Hudson Valley region of New York.[1]

Downstate Correctional Facility

Location	121 Red Schoolhouse Road Fishkill, New York
Status	open
Security class	maximum
Opened	1979
Managed by	New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision

Downstate is a maximum-security prison located along the north side (i.e. westbound) of Interstate 84. Downstate serves primarily as a classification center, as it is, along with Elmira Correctional Facility and Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (women), a reception facility for new inmates entering the New York State prison system. New inmates typically wait at Downstate for a few weeks before they are assigned to a permanent facility. The "permanent" prisoners - those who work in the kitchens, laundry, etc., which those in transit cannot do - are referred to as the "cadre" and are all maximum-security prisoners (sentenced to seven years or more). As the vast majority of inmates in New York State come from New York City, the Town of Fishkill (in southern Dutchess County) was chosen due to its proximity to the greater New York metropolitan area. It opened in 1979.

Downstate is right across Interstate 84 from the state's medium security Fishkill Correctional Facility.