Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters Tuesday that the correction worker strike at various prisons across the state that lasted 22 days has been a consuming affair.

State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said Monday evening more than 5,000 officers came back to work while termination letters have been sent to more than 2,000 workers, ending the strike.

“It has been all consuming. It has been wildly expensive for taxpayers, approaching $100 million,” Hochul said. “It created a very dangerous situation which I called out from the second day. I said individuals walked off their jobs and left the incarcerated population alone, left other union members from [the Public Employees Federation] and [Civil Service Employees Association] who work in health care and in the food support area, left them alone. Thank God we were able to get this done and there are consequences when people break the law.”

Hochul earlier in the day signed an executive order that prohibits the state from hiring any of the terminated officers for any state service job in the future.

“There are 2,000 people who refused the multiple, multiple multiple efforts we had to resolve this over a three-week period,” Hochul said.

When asked how she would grade her performance dealing with the strike, as well as the other multiple challenges the governor has faced in the last month — New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ future, the Trump administration’s efforts to end congestion pricing and lawsuit over “sanctuary” policies, the looming threat of Canadian tariffs and wildfires on Long Island — Hochul said “extraordinary.”

“I’m hard-wired to deal with crises. This is my strength,” Hochul said. “And there’ll probably be something even more tomorrow or even in the next half hour. But that’s what a governor has to do. You have to be able to manage every crisis with all the knowledge you have, the best way you can with your experienced team and also my life experiences so I feel very good about how we’ve managed these last few weeks. And I don’t know if it’s not an unprecedented time, but it’s certainly been a lot of dynamics converging at the same time.”

Regarding the prison strike, the governor also noted the timing of the now-former prison workers who face second-degree murder charges in the case of Robert Brooks’ death, who was an inmate at Marcy Correctional Facility.

“[The strike] also happened to coincide with the week that the indictments came down for the prison guards who murdered an individual at Marcy on Dec. 9, and subsequently, there was another murder of an individual just recently,” Hochul said. “We have 30 people who are either indicted or involved or being investigated in murders. This is the crisis I’m also confuse on as well, don’t forget that. But this has been a huge distraction, intentional or not who knows, but this wildcat illegal unauthorized strike, I don’t know how you prevent that. IF people are going to walk off the job and violate the law, it’s not something you can see coming. They did it and there are severe consequences.”

The other incident Hochul referred to is the death of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi  at Mid-State Correctional Facility. As of Tuesday afternoon, the circumstances of the death are still being investigated and no one has been charged at this time, though 15 workers have been placed on administrative leave and Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick is investigating the case further as special prosecutor.

Hochul said the National Guard, which was deployed to prisons when the strike began, will remain on location a little longer but is right now on a voluntary basis.