According to The New York Times , the State of New York has a strange project on its hands — it is attempting to sell off some of its old, disused prisons, left vacant after falling crime rates and new, looser penalties for nonviolent offenders. But who would want to buy an old prison complex? “The ideal buyer,” the article suggests, “is someone who craves space to spread out, and who does not mind a property that has had thousands of guests over the years. And a fondness for The Shawshank Redemption would not hurt.” Indeed not. Maybe an enormous family with a dark sense of humor, a mad scientist in need of a massive lair or a school for very bad boys? Check out a few of the prisons up for grabs after the jump, and let us know if you’d ever think of snatching one up for your own.
Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome. Photos via the New York State Office of General Services and Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times .
Camp Gabriels in the Adirondacks, a minimum-security prison originally built as a sanitarium for tuberculosis patients. Photos via Adirondack Base Camp.
Arthur Kill Correctional Facility on Staten Island, which boasts 69 acres of waterfront land. Photos via the New York State Office of General Services.
Camp Georgetown, Madison County. Photos via the New York State Office of General Services.
Buffalo Correctional Facility. Photos via the New York State Office of General Services.
Summit Shock Correctional Facility. Photos via the New York State Office of General Services.