In an effort to consolidate services, DMV Commissioner, Annie Rabbit has recommended closing the Newburgh DMV located on Broadway. The plan would be to merge the three remaining Orange County DMV offices to one in Middletown. If the plan is carried out, Newburgh residents will either have to go to Beacon or Middletown.
According to local attorney, Juliana Lobiondo, before the Goshen office was closed Newburgh did the second highest amount of transactions and now does over 90,000 transactions per year. She says that, “The people on this end of the county are going to fall into two categories: those who are not able to afford a 50-mile round trip car ride to Middletown and cannot give up half a day of work, and who will be completely disenfranchised. And those of us who can afford it but will choose to go to Beacon instead, or do everything possible online.” She goes on to propose to build a Mega DMV in Newburgh instead of Goshen since Newburgh could use the economic boost such an office would provide.
What are your thoughts about the possibility of the Newburgh DMV closing or a new Mega DMV in the city? For more on Mrs. Lobiondo’s thoughts, check out her blog post.
-Photo by Newburgh Restoration flickr pool user Alejandro Perez
This DMV restructuring is indicative of a broader ‘systemic’ failure. For decades costs were allowed to outstrip demand in order that everybody got theirs. Too bad nobody bothered to keep the boilers running and looked ahead, as we’re now throwing passengers overboard in an attempt to keep the ship afloat and there aren’t enough rowers or bailers either. But hey, I’m certain it’s all just ‘happenstance’ and transitory’. Not. Maybe it’s time to stop obsessing about the flawed details and focus on the underlining structure itself. There exists an obvious need -locally, nationally and globally- for capital intensive work that demands currently available resources. The same skills, efforts and innovations that support current
‘systems’ (bankrupt for all practical purposes) are transferable toward an effort to ‘re-tool’ a more inclusive vibrant economy. We’re heading into in the third phase of the post-modern economy, salvaging what is left. But as all economies are local, there is fighting amongst tptb for the last remaining revenues.’Best to pass through that phase as quick as possible and enter a new phase of inspiration as the resource ‘unobtainium’ has been depleted.
They say the best way to save a drowning person is to throw a line as the panicing person will bring you down with them if you make physical contact.. and if they do grab you, grab back and pull them down, as they’ll release you thinking you’re out to drown them.
@Walt A little deep but I was able to follow…(I think anyway). I would like the Newburgh office to remain open. I do understand that often the decisions to keep or close offices are not made based on traffic to those offices but on other reasons. Beacon will be where I go if it closes no way am I driving to Middletown.
Yeah, I can be a little cryptic in my comments. Automation + legacy ‘systems’ that can’t support themselves = restructuring…DMV style. It’s just a matter of time before the ‘systems’ are completely automated making where we travel to a mute question. By then you can’t say we didn’t see it coming…well, tptb might.
Anyway, I agree in keeping the Newburgh DMV open. The social implications when buildings, docks, bridges etc. are ‘unused’ is hugely understated imo. That said, there is a point at which the number of incidents being just ‘happenstance’ become questioned as having forethought.