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Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , June 1 , 2016

PUBLIC AGENDA

WEDNESDAY , JUNE 1 New Windsor Town Board , Town Hall , 555 Union Ave ., New Windsor .

THURSDAY , JUNE 2 Town of Newburgh Planning Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh .

MONDAY , JUNE 6

Newburgh Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh .

TUESDAY , JUNE 7

City of Newburgh Planning Board Work Session , 10 a . m . City Hall , 83 Broadway .

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The Mid Hudson Times , ( USPS 000-5947 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , N . Y . 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , N . Y . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Mid Hudson Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . 12550

The Jehovah ’ s Witnesses purchased the former Hilton Garden Inn in 2014 .

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Watchtower owns five properties in the Town of Newburgh alone : two places of worship sit on Route 32 and Old Little Britain Road , an assembly hall is located on Unity Place and , in addition to the hotel on Route 300 , the organization owns the former Hilton Garden Inn on Crossroads Court next to Orange County Choppers .

Watchtower will save $ 285,077 in town , county and highway taxes due to its tax-exempt status for the five Town of Newburgh properties in 2016 .

A new world headquarters

Watchtower spokesman Richard Devine said Orange County was chosen as the organization ’ s new home for its

The former Gateway Diner is now a dining hall . location and affordability . “ We had to consolidate and become more efficient ,” said Devine . “ It was an ideal location for us .”

The main thrust of the relocation effort was the building of the new Watchtower world headquarters on a 253- acre parcel in Warwick .

“ We needed plenty of space ,” Devine said , to accommodate a main office , support facilities and housing for visitors and a staff of about 850 . “ It would be impossible to do that in the city . Here , we ’ re close to major airports and we ’ re in commuting distance to Wallkill and Patterson .”

Devine was talking about Watchtower ’ s printing complex in the Town of Shawangunk and its education center in Patterson , Putnam County . The

Newburgh support center is centrally located between the three facilities , said Devine .

“ We originally bought it to house construction volunteers for Warwick ,” said Devine . Traffic at the support center is expected to die down when construction at the Warwick site ends this summer , he said .

Room to expand The exodus from Brooklyn was inevitable , said Devine .

“ New York is a very crowded place ,” he said . “ As we grew , we bought up properties wherever they were available . We were scattered everywhere in Brooklyn Heights and the cost was high .”

According to a Jan . 31 New York Times article , “ The Watchtower Exits ,”