N.Y. Correct. Law § 500-d

§ 500-d. Food and labor. (1) Prisoners detained for trial, and those\nunder sentence, shall be provided with a sufficient quantity of plain\nbut wholesome food, at the expense of the county; such foods shall be\npurchased in the manner and subject to the regulations provided in\nsection four hundred eight of the county law; but prisoners detained for\ntrial may, at their own expense, and under the direction of the keeper,\nbe supplied with any other proper articles of food.\n (2) Such keeper shall cause each prisoner committed to his jail for\nimprisonment under sentence, to be constantly employed at hard labor\nwhen practicable, during every day, except Sunday but the Sunday\nexception shall not apply where a prisoner under sentence of\nintermittent imprisonment serves less than the five preceding days in\nthe jail and the keeper has adopted an employment program designed\nespecially for intermittent imprisonment, and the board of supervisors\nof the county, or judge of the county, may prescribe the kind of labor\nat which such prisoner shall be employed; and the keeper shall account,\nat least annually, with the board of supervisors of the county, for the\nproceeds of such labor.\n (3) Such keeper may, with the consent of the board of supervisors of\nthe county, or the county judge, from time to time, cause such of the\nconvicts under his charge as are capable of hard labor, to be employed\noutside of the jail in the same, or in an adjoining county, upon such\nterms as may be agreed upon between the keepers and the officers, or\npersons, under whose direction such convicts shall be placed, subject to\nsuch regulations as the board or judge may prescribe; and the board of\nsupervisors of the several counties are authorized to employ convicts\nunder sentence to confinement in the county jails, in building and\nrepairing penal institutions of the county and in building and repairing\nthe highways in their respective counties or in preparing the materials\nfor such highways for sale to and for the use of the state, counties,\ntowns, villages or cities, and in cutting wood and performing other work\nwhich is commonly carried on at a prison camp, and to make rules and\nregulations for their employment; and the said board of supervisors are\nhereby authorized to cause money to be raised by taxation for the\npurpose of furnishing materials and carrying this provision into effect;\nand the courts of this state are hereby authorized to sentence convicts\ncommitted to detention in the county jails to such hard labor as may be\nprovided for them by the boards of supervisors. This section as amended\nshall not affect a county wholly included within a city. Notwithstanding\nany other provision of law, an inmate may be permitted to leave the\ninstitution under guard to voluntarily perform work for a nonprofit\norganization pursuant to this subdivision. As used in this section, the\nterm "nonprofit organization" means an organization operated exclusively\nfor religious, charitable, or educational purposes, no part of the net\nearnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or\nindividual.\n