Mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato performs at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 2015 with other Carnegie Hall musicians and inmates. OSSINING, N.Y. -- When opera singer Joyce DiDonato walked past a group of scary looking prisoners during her first visit to the notorious Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, she kept telling herself: "Don't make eye contact.
A $500,000 grant has been awarded to Historic Hudson River Towns, the lead agency on the Sing Sing Prison Museum. The Empire State Development grant is for continued work on developing a museum at Ossining Correctional Facility, according to an announcement by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo at a meeting of the Regional Economic Development Councils of New York State.
An inmate, left, meets with guests before a graduation ceremony for the Osborne Foundation's FamilyWorks program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y., Oct. 19, 2016. In part because it is less than an hour from New York City, Sing Sing has far more opportunities for family visits and educational programs; the state uses it as a reward for inmates with good records at other prisons.