(Apr 3, 2024) New York has decided to lock down its 44 state prisons for the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. While others watch the moon block out the sun, inmates and some prison staff will be kept inside. Some may never have another chance to see a total solar eclipse; the next one in New York won’t be for another 55 years. A small group of inmates, including one from Lake Placid, is suing the state. They say watching the eclipse is part of their constitutional right to religious freedom.