Sing Sing

the name of a famous prison located at the town of Ossining, Westchester County, New York. It is situated on the Hudson, thirty-two miles above New York City. Its management is humane and progressive and reforms introduced there have been adopted in other prisons, both in this country and abroad. The name of the town of Ossining was also Sing Sing at first, but the unpleasant notoriety attached to the prison resulted in a change of name, made on the initiative of the citizens in 1901. Ossining is, it will be seen, a variant of Sing Sing, both being derived from an Indian word meaning a stony place. The town, which has a population of about 8,000, is built on rocky hills overlooking Tappan Bay and commands a beautiful view of the Hudson River.