Advocates held a rally outside Queensboro Correctional Facility demanding the release all state prisoners who are within one year of their release date.

The protest, which included former inmates, prison health experts and advocacy organizations, is part of a larger call to release prisoners in order to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“New Yorkers across the state want our loved ones home, want our neighbors home, do not want see people die in prison die of this illness, do not want to see this virus create death camps in New York State, Governor Cuomo must release people,” said Katie Schaffer, Director of Advocacy and Organizing, Center for Community Alternatives.

All prisoners inside Queensboro Correctional Facility are within 120 days of the end of their sentences, and advocates say there is no reason they should have to complete their sentences and be put at risk.

Queensboro is considered a “short-stay” facility. Social distancing is especially difficult there, where incarcerated people sleep within two feet of each other in dorms.