Planning and Development Director Ed Lynch with a map showing the concentration of building code violations (in red) throughout the city of Newburgh.
By Nancy Peckenham
The facts about the city of Newburgh’s housing stock are sobering. In just two sections of the city closest to the Hudson River, there are 227 vacant buildings and 518 vacant properties, including lots. Boarded up or with gaping holes in windows, these buildings are strong visual reminders of the numerous code violations that can be found throughout the city, in both vacant and occupied buildings.
The city’s newly-appointed Director of Planning and Development, Ed Lynch, has a map in his office that shows how many code violations can be found per square mile. The darkest red is reserved for those areas in the heart of city where up to 25,000 violations are found per square mile.
As a new study addressing Newburgh’s housing problems by the Land Use Law Center at Pace University reports, there is a clear and persistent connection between the condition of distressed properties in the city and increased crime, declining property values, and the city’s limited tax base.
Sound familiar? Well, the problems are not new but some people in city hall are optimistic that a combination of forces will allow improvements that could make a difference in the city’s downward slide.
As a first step, the city council is considering a new bill that would give the city the power to repair building code violations, then send the cost of the repairs plus a 15 percent surcharge back to the owner. A public hearing will be held on the ordinance on October 18.
Director Lynch thinks that in addition to a lot of problems, Newburgh has a lot going for it and, if measures can be taken to reverse trends, he sees a vibrant future ahead.
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