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Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , July 27 , 2016
City targeting garbage dumpers
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property ,” City of Newburgh Public Works Department Superintendent George Garrison said . “ The guy dumped mattresses , TVs , carpets , chairs , tables …”
The dumper blamed the property owner , said Garrison . “ He said the reason he was dumping was because he worked for the owner , and the owner said it was okay ,” Garrison said , adding “ a lot of the dumping in the city is from landlords doing evictions .”
Some of the garbage fell onto the city sidewalk , he said , which was fortunate . “ If it had all been dumped behind the fence , it would have been a code issue ,” Garrison said . “ But , because it was on the sidewalk , he was arrested .”
The man was convicted of dumping thanks to the city ’ s anti-dumping ordinance , passed last year in an effort to curb the city ’ s mounting garbage problem . The year-old law brings a minimum fine of $ 500 for the first offense . City of Newburgh Police were unable to provide details on the arrest in time for this story .
A property in distress
“ The moral of the story is if you see dumping , call the police ,” said city Director of Planning and Development Deirdre Glenn , speaking at a Distressed Properties Task Force meeting last week .
The Liberty Street School property had been scheduled for abatement when the dumping occurred . Garrison said it took city workers three days to perform the cleanup . “ There was a lot of garbage , high weeds and falling fences ,” he said , and workers boarded up more than a dozen windows .
Built in 1891 , the school served “ The Heights ” neighborhood until it closed in 1981 . The property sat in its sad state for almost a year , said Garrison , who said cleanup costs of $ 8,000 to $ 10,000 would be billed to the property owner . A change to the city code this spring empowers the city to take action after seven days of issuing a code violation , he said .
According to the Orange County Office of Real Property , the Liberty Street School property is owned by Bluestone Developers , Inc . Based in Uniondale , Long
A man was arrested for illegal dumping at the Liberty Street School in June .
Island , the company is owned by Jerome Blue .
The property has posed a problem for years . In 2010 , the Newburgh City Council sent a “ notice to cure ” to Blue , explaining he defaulted on a land purchase agreement by “ failing to diligently undertake the securing and cleanup and improvement of the Liberty Street School .”
Six years later , not much has changed . In addition to the former school building , Bluestone Developers owns eight properties on both Liberty and Renwick streets .
Caught dumping off bridge
Occasionally , dumpers choose to dump garbage in and near sensitive bodies of water , as was the case with a man caught red-handed dumping garbage off the Mill Street Bridge in February .
“ We were under the Mill Street Bridge doing excavation work and , about 200 feet away , we saw someone throw a bag of garbage off the bridge ,” said city Engineer Jason Morris . “ It landed in a tree . I called the police .”
Morris said several other bags were later found in the same area matching the bag that was thrown over the bridge , which spans the Quassaick Creek . “ It looked as if trash had been accumulating in and around the tree ,” the engineer said .
New Windsor resident Juan Rosa was later charged with violating the anti-dumping law . He pleaded guilty and was fined $ 500 by Judge Peter Kulkin . “ They are using the city as their own personal garbage dump ,” said city Councilwoman Genie Abrams of Ward 2 , where the bridge and former school are located . “ It really burns me up .”
City Planner Alexandra Church said the city is currently working to make it easier for residents to recycle and dispose of trash on a daily basis . The city is also considering reinstituting some form of bulkgarbage pickup , she said . “ It ’ s time to start having that conversation ,” she said .