Mid Hudson Times Dec. 19 2018 | Page 2

2 Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, December 19, 2018 IN THIS ISSUE Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 City of Newburgh.. . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Crossword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . 8 Meadow Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Town of Newburgh. . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Newburgh Heritage. . . . . . . . . . . 10 New Windsor.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Police Blotter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Service Directory. . . . . . . . . . . 28 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 PUBLIC AGENDA WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19 City of Newburgh Human Rights Commission, 6:30 p.m. City of Newburgh Activities Center, 401 Washington Street, Newburgh. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20 Newburgh City Council Work Session, 6 p.m. City Hall, 83 Broadway. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26 Town of Newburgh Workshop meeting, 7 p.m. Town Hall, 1496 Route 300, Town of Newburgh. HOLIDAY DEADLINE The office of the Mid Hudson Times will be closed on December 24 and 25 in observance of Christmas. Deadline for the December 26 edition is Thursday, December 20 at 5 p.m. HOW TO REACH US OFFICE: 300 Stony Brook Court Newburgh, NY 12550 PHONE: [phone], FAX: [phone] Emails may be directed to the following : ADVERTISING [email protected] CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS [email protected] TO REACH THE EDITOR [email protected] FOR THE SPORTS DEPARTMENT [email protected] PUBLIC NOTICES [email protected] WEBSITE www.timescommunitypapers.com The Mid Hudson Times (USPS 000-5947) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh, NY 12550, with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY. Single copy: $1 at newsstand. By mail in Orange, Ulster or Sullivan Counties: $40 annually, $44 out of county. Periodicals permit at Newburgh, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mid Hudson Times, 300 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY 12550. Newburgh LGBTQ Center is finally home By KATELYN CORDERO [email protected] Alone and depressed in the Hudson Valley, Laura Brown-Rivera was ready to leave the area. She had no safe place to go where she felt welcomed with queer like- minded people. It wasn’t until she found the Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center that she felt welcomed and included. “I was alone in the Hudson Valley I did not have a community,” said Brown- Rivera. “It felt like no one knows what you’re going through, no one sees what you’re going through. When I met this group of individuals they embraced me in love and wrapped me in love and told me it was going to be okay, we are here for each other. They are the fuel that keeps me going. That’s how I say they saved my life. I wouldn’t be in the Hudson Valley still if it wasn’t for them.” The center has been functioning on a pop-up basis since 2016 holding meetings at various locations until finding their home at the studio space of Newburgh Community Photo Project (NCPP) at Atlas Studio. The NCPP will be donating its space to the center until they have the funds to rent out the space themselves. The event was sponsored by Blacc Vanilla, North Plank Tavern, Shapiro’s Furniture, The Wherehouse, and Hamilton Silver Photography. “This space provides opportunities for people that identify as Queer to have a safe space and to find people that can be supportive for their struggle,” said Co-Founder, Maria Ramirez. “We really want this to be a space for anyone that does not feel welcome where they are. We are building a very resilient network for people in the community. If we cannot Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney spoke at the grand opening, Saturday, of the Newburgh LGBTQ Center inside Atlas Studio. help someone we have enough resources to send them to someone else that can help them.” The grand opening on Saturday afternoon was jam packed with elected officials and members of the community in support of the center. It was a celebration with music laughter and discussions on the future of the center. For Representative Sean Patrick Maloney this center is a step forward from the environment in which he grew up. “I’m just going to say, I was a queer politician before it was cool,” said Maloney. “There is so much work to do, we are in a time where we have never experienced so much acceptance and inclusion and we have never dealt with so much bullshit from the White House. I remember what it was like being a kid who thought that there was no room for a person like me in this world. I was a teenage kid once who thought I couldn’t be who I wanted to be in this world and if I let people know who I was it would be bad. I think this center is just one more step along the road to let everybody be their best self and our country can be all it can be.” The Center is looking to reach as many members of the community as possible with trainings, meditations, a monthly teen drop-in center and endless events planned for the months of December, January and February. More information can be found on their Facebook page, Newburgh LGBTQ Center. World Mission Church of God cleans the streets Continued from page 1 The group worked with Mayor Torrance Harvey and the city council to pick which streets to clean and the logistics of getting the job done. According to Joey Seymour, World Mission Church of God Public Relations, this is the first time the group from New Windsor worked in an urban setting. The difficult landscape did not deter their spirits or their ability to clean up the area. They filled 50 bags with trash as well as picked up various large items scatter around the area. The group is a part of an international organization that has performed similar cleanups in over 7,000 regions. The three streets will become a part of the long list of “mother streets” the group has cleaned up in the past. The way a mother cares for a child is how the group looks to care for the communities they clean up. “This is an amazing event, day, the World Church of God has really delivered on their promise in helping clean the streets,” said Harvey. “I hope this is the beginning of a new trend for the city. As the World Church of God talks about sharing and expressing a mother’s love and cleaning the streets not only improves the quality of life for our residents and visitors, but it also has a correlation between urban light and crime and hopefully with a better quality of life we can continue to keep crime down, continue to have safe streets, and a place where we all can enjoy the community and the City of Newburgh. This is just the beginning.”