New York has spent a decade planning and approving the Wadsworth Center consolidation at Harriman. Adding housing or other mixed-use development next to the lab would waste taxpayer money and create unnecessary public safety risks.
Campaign Updates1 min read
Martha McHugh
Last updated on March 29, 2026
Statement on Mixed-Use Development Adjacent to the Wadsworth Center Laboratory
The Wadsworth Center, New York State’s public health laboratory, is a cornerstone of the state’s safety, health infrastructure, and scientific innovation. As one of the largest and most diverse public health laboratories in the nation, it serves as the first line of defense against biological, chemical, and environmental threats.
Wadsworth plays a critical role in disease surveillance and outbreak response, identifying and tracking infectious diseases before they become widespread crises. The Center played a leading role in combating the COVID‑19 pandemic, was the first to detect the 2022 poliovirus outbreak in the United States, and supports disease prevention through advanced testing in bacteriology, virology, and mycobacteriology. As one of only 14 Advanced Laboratory Response Network (LRN‑B) labs in the country, Wadsworth is uniquely equipped to respond to high‑level biological threats such as anthrax, plague, and Ebola.
State Initiative and Planning History
New York State’s commitment to modernizing and consolidating the Wadsworth Center began in 2014 as part of a broader Life Sciences Initiative to build a unified, secure, state‑of‑the‑art public health complex. The goal was to replace multiple aging laboratory facilities—then dispersed across Albany, Colonie, and Guilderland—with a single, modern facility designed for safety, efficiency, and collaboration.
From 2014 through 2018, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) led a transparent multi‑year planning and site‑evaluation process, evaluating several potential locations across the Capital Region. Legislators and local officials had repeated opportunities to participate and provide input through public hearings, budget discussions, and capital planning reviews.
In 2018, after careful analysis, the Harriman State Office Campus selected by the state as the location for the new Life Sciences Public Health Laboratory. The site was chosen because it: offered sufficient acreage for a secure, high‑containment facility and required safety buffer; was already state-owned, eliminating the need for new land purchases; had strong infrastructure capacity and transportation access; and provided proximity to key research partners, including the University at Albany and Albany Medical Center.
This selection entered the State Capital Plan and underwent extensive environmental review by DASNY under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) from 2021 through 2024, culminating in a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) approving the project and site.
Over this decade‑long period, state representatives had every opportunity to study, invest in, or influence the direction of the Harriman Campus. The laboratory consolidation was widely publicized, appeared in multiple state budgets, and advanced through open environmental processes.
Given this extensive history, the recent proposal to spend an additional $1 million to “reimagine” the Harriman Campus is redundant and wasteful. The planning, land use, and investment priorities for this site have been established through years of state studies and public review. Redirecting new taxpayer dollars to restart planning efforts at this stage provides no practical benefit and would only duplicate prior work already completed in an approved, fully funded state project.
Public Safety and Planning Considerations
Beyond financial waste, mixed‑use redevelopment adjacent to the new Wadsworth Laboratory is fundamentally unsafe and impractical. The facility will include high‑containment (BSL‑2 and BSL‑3) laboratories working with Tier 1 Select Agents—the most dangerous and tightly regulated pathogens in the country. These require maximum biosecurity, restricted access, and controlled perimeters to protect the public and meet federal standards under CDC and DHS regulations.
Mixed-use development—housing, retail, or public amenities—would conflict with these containment boundaries, invite unnecessary public proximity to a high-security facility, and compromise emergency response operations dependent on controlled access and security zoning.
The site’s existing infrastructure, utilities, and circulation patterns were engineered specifically for secure state and research use—not open commercial or residential access. Redesigning this environment would require major reconstruction, utility separation, and new federal safety approvals, undermining the state’s ongoing investments.
Conclusion
The Wadsworth Laboratory consolidation, initiated in 2014 and progressed through a decade of study, planning, and environmental approval, represents one of New York’s most significant long-term public health investments. State and local representatives have had numerous opportunities over the years to shape the future of the Harriman Campus but did not pursue redevelopment or mixed-use planning when it could have been meaningfully integrated.
At this stage, allocating new taxpayer funds to “reimagine” the Harriman Campus ignores a decade of state planning and constitutes an unnecessary and duplicative expenditure.
Given the laboratory’s essential biodefense and public health mission, and the strict security and containment requirements governing its operation, mixed-use development adjacent to the Wadsworth site is both unsafe and impractical. The surrounding area should remain reserved for state use, security buffering, and laboratory support functions—protecting both the safety of New Yorkers and the integrity of this nationally significant public health facility.