Wende Correctional Facility is a maximum security
prison located in the town of
Alden in
Erie County, New York, east of
Buffalo. The prison is named for this region of Alden. The prison was formerly the site of an
Erie County jail and was sold to the state to fulfill the need for a maximum security state prison. The Erie County Correctional Facility was built adjacent to Wende.
History
The state of New York announced its $48 million purchase of the prison on March 24, 1983. At the time of the sale, the facility housed 592 prisoners.[1]
COVID-19
Like other prisons, Wende was a vector in the
COVID-19 pandemic. As of November 6, 2020, 31 prisoners had tested positive for
COVID-19; one of the first confirmed infections was that of recently sentenced movie executive
Harvey Weinstein.[2][3] According to a March 31, 2020, statement by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, 135 correctional officers at Wende were in quarantine, and 6 had tested positive for the virus.[4]
Controversies
David McClary, convicted of murdering police officer
Edward Byrne, spent three years in
solitary confinement while at Wende. In 1999, a federal jury granted him $660,000 in damages.[5]
Maksim Gelman - perpetrator of a 28-hour stabbing spree lasting from February 11, 2011 to February 12, 2011, in New York City, which involved the killing of four people and the wounding of five others.
Harvey Weinstein - former film producer and convicted sex offender serving a 23-year sentence. He was transferred to
Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles where he faced additional sexual assault charges. After being convicted and sentenced, he was returned to New York to
Mohawk Correctional Facility.
Kevin Monahan - Convicted in the murder of Kaylin Gills, where he shot at her and a group of friends in his driveway at his home in
Hebron, New York.