N.Y. state prison buses torched, spray-painted during ongoing corrections officer strike

By Robert Harding
The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y.

AUBURN, N.Y.— Two state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision buses were vandalized — one of which was set on fire — while at a Cayuga County shop.

Thomas Mailey, a DOCCS spokesperson, said Saturday that the buses were parked at a heavy-duty repair shop in Cato. The other bus was spray-painted. A source told the Times Union that the spray-painted message read, “Now you’ll hear us.”

“The investigation into who committed these acts is ongoing,” Mailey said.

The New York State Police is investigating the incident.

The buses were vandalized amid the correction officer strike that began Monday and spread to most DOCCS facilities, including Auburn and Cayuga, by Tuesday. The officers are protesting unsafe working conditions and certain policies, including overtime mandates and a solitary confinement reform law.

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Gov. Kathy Hochul, who urged the correction officers to end their strike, activated more than 3,500 National Guard members to provide security and other services at affected prisons. The National Guard arrived at Auburn Correctional Facility on Wednesday.

DOCCS responded by temporarily suspending parts of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, a law that limits the use of solitary confinement in jails and prisons. The agency advised striking officers that if they returned to work by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, they wouldn’t be penalized.

State law prohibits public employee strikes. The officers who remain on the picket line face significant penalties, including losing two days’ pay for every day they participate in the strike and termination.

The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union representing most of the state’s correction officers, did not sanction the strike. The union has urged its members to return to work.

Mediation will begin this week, with three meetings planned Tuesday through Thursday. More sessions could be held to resolve the dispute. Representatives from the Hochul administration, including DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III, and NYSCOPBA will participate in the process.

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