A city of only 4 square miles with 40,000 residents, Newburgh has seen its share of lows in its compact space and a heaping helping of negative press.
Forget what urban renewal did to dim the lights on Broadway ”“ that”™s a dead horse well-beaten. Right now, the city of Newburgh is fighting to keep its doors open.
Mayor Nicholas Valentine and the Common Council are working to create a financial review board to boost the city”™s credit rating. “This was done elsewhere ”“Yonkers and Buffalo are examples,” said Valentine. “It is the only way we can borrow so investors will be assured they will get their money back.”
Special legislation from the state is required to make it happen. “We need it now,” said Valentine, a seven-year mayor who hopes lawmakers can put partisan politics aside and let the governor sign off on it before elected officials go on vacation.
“The governor would appoint the members, not the city, and supervise it,” said Valentine. “We need this entity to help ground us. If we run out of money, which can happen by October, we would have to go to the state for it anyway. This is a better alternative. We really cannot ”˜close for business.”™”
The recent sweep of drug dealers has helped bolster residents”™ confidence that its leaders want to clean up the city. “When the Justice Department came in and rounded up almost 80 gang members, people were telling me how happy they were to have their neighborhood back,” said Valentine.
Unfortunately, Newburgh is an easy city to hide in; because of its large housing stock, paroled convicts often end up being sent there by the county. “You can”™t turn people away, but Newburgh has more Level 1 and (Level) 2 sex offenders than anywhere else in this county,” said Valentine. “The strain on our public services is enormous. We get the problem and responsibility. Our 85-member police force is stretched to the limit.”
Valentine said he is seeing community involvement and representation “like never before. We get beat up a lot in the media and seem to be behind the eight ball more than we should, but we have good people here who want to pull the city up and make it a decent place to live and raise a family.”
Dismissing bad press, “Developers are interested in building here,” said Valentine. “We have plans for the block on Broadway that Robert Carchietta gutted when he thought SUNY Orange would choose the site for its new college ”“ it belongs to the city now. We”™d like it to be developed and become an anchor in the middle of Broadway. I truly believe it would help turn the entire area around.”
And: “I”™d like to see something retail-based, a supermarket or a variety of mixed-use: housing, retail, a community center, something for kids who live on the East End. Newburgh can really use a parking garage. The bottom line is, when you have development, you have activity. People are out and it makes the whole neighborhood feel safer.”
Despite losing out to Beacon for “Night Out Against Crime” funding, Valentine said the city is working to host an event in August. Its annual July 4 fireworks show ”“ which has gone on uninterrupted for a half-century ”“ was cancelled due to dwindling city coffers. “Immediately, private donations started pouring in. We are almost three-fourths of the way to having the money to hold it,” said Valentine.
“It”™s an event that brings people together and something positive to look forward to,” Valentine said. “These days, we all need something to look forward to bind us together as a community. This is one of them.”
