Weekly Link Round Up

The weekly link roundup is a collection of links related to Newburgh, revitalization, urban planning and anything else that might inspire change or create dialogue. Photo by Tony Frankie Frank Reid.

Gully’s is Sinking [WRRV]
The Psychology of Decline [ST]
SUNY Orange Newburgh campus enrollment sets record [MHN]
Newburgh ‘boot camp’ trains young people for film & TV crew jobs [THR]
Newburgh ‘once again’ picks up cost for vacant building demolition [THR]
Newburgh’s Liberty Street ups the ante on dining, drinking, shopping options [PJ]
Vote requirement could derail $75 million Newburgh development proposal [THR]

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4 Comment

  • Love this quote regarding the city having to pay for demolition for 302 Grand Street… “Once again, somebody doesn’t do the right thing, and the city picks up the cost,” Assistant Fire Chief and Building Inspector Bill Horton said on Thursday.

    Yet if you do the right thing- and even go above and beyond you are penalized with taxes. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. But here the city didn’t do the right thing and we’re all paying for it. Anyone looking at that house from the street could see that it was bound to collapse for years. That the city didn’t take emergency action until the public was at risk is atrocious.

    • Looking? There was/is no longer an operating codes enforcement/task force. At the Sept.24 ’18 city council meeting, a Councilperson stated ‘she would like to see codes back up as revenue gained from it was halved yoy’. At the Sept. 10 City Council meeting, the former comptroller noted that the fees collected from code’s violations were down significantly relative to last year. She offered that perhaps ‘we’re seeing less violations and/or handling code violations properly’.
      Go figure…
      https://newburghny.swagit.com/play/09242018-936 final comments 09:40 in
      https://newburghny.swagit.com/play/09102018-920 item 5 financial update 05:45 in

  • As a reminder, the codes dept. was ‘new & improved’ by way of the first SAFER grant just after the mortgage crisis under the umbrella of the fire dept.. It was a main tenent on which the grant was originally pitched to the public as it relates to the carrying costs. By the time the grant expired, the benefits reaped were to pay for the added positions permanently by way of a reduction in o.t. and, hopefully, an expanded tax base. When the first one did expire there was a vacuum to be filled regarding funding, resulting in the same narrative as to why the ‘City should apply a second time for the grant. Now, the ‘City is in the same position for a third time. Interestingly, the specific vacant housing and blight issues originally fronted are reposed under a blanket ‘public safety’ presentation. Now, the ‘City must tap into emergency funds to pay the lack of an o.t. reduction. Now, the ‘City must pay partially up front as the newly awarded grant is not a full match. Now, the ‘City must tap into its capital fund or else risk breaching the ‘tax cap’, which it might do regardless. Breach the cap and residents lose the related ‘property tax relief’ checks from NY state. The ‘City, in turn, forfeits potential revenue by way of its residents not patronizing its businesses or not making property improvements. The ‘City continually skews financial austerity measures on to its residents, abstaining to negotiate otherwise. The ‘City has spent a lot of resources ‘streamlining’ the blight fight only having to fall back on ‘trying to convince’ code violators to self-correct because property rights trump current enforcement legislation. As there seems to be abstention on negotiating that issue as well, the ‘vacant building’ issues will persist. This resident is pretty much maxed out on ‘picking up the costs’ austerity measures.
    The City’s Corporate Council recently gave a rebuttal to the criticism regarding the ‘distressed & vacant’ property issues…https://newburghny.swagit.com/play/09062018-702 item 14
    The ‘City explains how to ‘self-correct’ Itself in ’16…https://newburghny.swagit.com/play/11102016-836 item 3, 1:50:0 in

  • In 5,4,3…’Representatives have secured $X mil. of our tax $’s to reimburse authorities for the demo costs of vacant buildings. As well, taxpayers will forfeit their ‘property tax relief’ checks toward this ongoing effort.’
    xoxoxo TPTB

    As a reminder, the codes dept. was ‘new & improved’ by way of the first SAFER grant just after the mortgage crisis under the umbrella of the fire dept.. It was a main tenent on which the grant was originally pitched to the public as it relates to the carrying costs. By the time the grant expired, the benefits reaped were to pay for the added positions permanently by way of a reduction in o.t. and, hopefully, an expanded tax base. When the first one did expire there was a vacuum to be filled regarding the funding that never materialized, resulting in the same narrative as to why the ‘City should apply a second time for the grant. Now, the ‘City is in the same position for a third time. Interestingly, the specific vacant housing and blight issues originally fronted are reposed under a blanket ‘public safety’ presentation. Now, however, the ‘City had to tap into emergency funds to pay the associated labor costs. Now, the ‘City must pay partially up front as the newly awarded grant is not a full match. Now, the ‘City must tap into its capital fund or else risk breaching the ‘tax cap’, which it might do regardless. Breach the cap and residents lose the related ‘property tax relief’ checks from NY state…in turn, the ‘City forfeits potential revenue by way of its residents not patronizing its businesses or not making property improvements. The ‘City continually skews financial austerity measures on to its residents, abstaining to negotiate otherwise. The ‘City has spent a lot of resources ‘streamlining’ the blight fight only having to fall back on ‘trying to convince’ code violators to self-correct because property rights trump current enforcement legislation, that’s the rebuttal anyway. As there seems to be abstention on ratifying that issue as well, Newburgh’s ‘vacant building’ issues will persist. So, the question is ‘will Newburgh’s “new faces” oblige in the city’s persistent ‘picking up the costs’ austerity? Long time ‘other side of the hill’ residents are becoming maxed out in that regard despite their admiration for Newburgh.
    The City’s Corporate Council recently gave a rebuttal to the criticism regarding the ‘distressed & vacant’ property issues…https://newburghny.swagit.com/play/09062018-702 item 14
    Flashback…the ‘City explains how to ‘self-correct’ Itself in ’16…https://newburghny.swagit.com/play/11102016-836 item 3, 1:50:0 in