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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Town considers hundreds of new senior housing units
By LAUREN BERG
The May 29 town of Newburgh
workshop meeting featured two major
senior housing development presentations
before the town board.
The Gardiner Ridge development
offers a senior housing component with
a preliminary approval of as many as 144
units. There are two sites being considered
for the affordable senior development,
either of which would have provisions
made for a community resource center
on site specifically for seniors. All units
would be built to be handicap accessible.
The developers first need to discuss
with New York State the potential of a
tax exemption program in order to afford
the project, such as a PILOT (Payment
in Lieu of Taxes) program. Since it is
still in its early stages, there was not
enough information for the town board
to make any decisions on the project
besides wishing to be informed of the
state’s comments on the two proposed
site options.
“I’m willing to have them go to
the state; I’d like to definitely hear the
feedback,” said councilwoman Betty
Greene. “Just about everything the state
tells you, we want to know.”
“You have to remember, whatever the
decision will be, if it’s going forward we
are not only looking out for the town now,
but the future town boards that will have
to live with this down the road,” added
Greene.
The Polo Club Senior Housing project
would consist of as many as 256 units off
of Route 300, located just south of Jeanne
Drive and north of Gardnertown Farm.
At least 28 units would be specifically set
aside for senior residents, the rest would
be market-rate apartments. The complex
as proposed would offer a mix of one and
two-bedroom apartments. According to
a 2018 published article the non-senior
apartments would cost between $1,500
- $1,800, for single and two-bedroom
apartments respectively.
Some town board members questioned
the need for so many new senior
residencies. One senior housing complex
located on Stewart Avenue has a waiting
list of 70 people. But, councilman Scott
Manley discovered, those were for single
bedroom apartments, with two-bedroom
apartments left available for rent.
“The problem is nobody wants the
two-bedrooms. Most of the people on
the waiting list are still trying to sell
their house, and they want studios or
one-bedrooms. They can’t rent the two-
bedrooms,” explained Manley. He added,
“I don’t know when this ends, because
almost every single apartment complex
seems to be asking for the same thing.”
Attorney for the town Mark Taylor
responded that the town board had
set a precedent for approving similar
applications on such zoned sites. The
board could change the zoning laws, but
he stated that wouldn’t be fair to this
particular applicant.
“That is part of a larger zoning
picture, as to potentially amending the
code and its incentives for this particular
project,” said Taylor.
However, other councilmembers
agreed that there is a need for senior
housing in the town. “We have more
senior citizens in the town of Newburgh
than any other municipality in Orange
County,” said Greene.
“The time is right, and there is
a need for this type of project. I have
the financial wherewithal behind me to
complete,” stated David Weinberg, Polo
Club project applicant.
The Polo Club has already been before
the planning board for several years, and
is currently in the process of obtaining
a SEQR (State Environmental Quality
Review Act) for the federal wetlands
located on the site.
The town board decided to ask the
planning board for more information
before moving forward on the project.
Don’t get stopped for a broken brake light, get it replaced for free
By ILYSSA DALY
Motorists who are worried about being stopped for
having a broken brake light, need no longer worry.
To help reduce these traffic stops, the Mid-Hudson
Valley Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America
(DSA) is hosting an event open to residents with broken
brake lights. On June 8, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., anyone
with a broken brake light in their car is invited to go to
the municipal parking lot on Ann Street, between Liberty
St. and Johnston St. to get it replaced for free.
The DSA has existed since 1982, although it considerably
grew after the 2016 election. It boasts a membership of
around 55,000 people, including 300 hundred members
of the Mid-Hudson Valley Chapter. The DSA is an
organization dedicated to making sure that members of
the community have their basic needs met for things like
food, housing, education, transportation, and healthcare.
According to Peter Frase, a leader of the DSA’s Mid-
Hudson Valley Chapter, the brake light clinic began
in New Orleans. “Having a brake light out is one of
the most common reasons that people often get pulled
over by the police, which leads to interactions with law
enforcement. When you’re talking about communities
of color or working class communities, it often leads to
bad interactions and really serious life consequences,”
he said. This is the first brake light clinic in Newburgh,
but the DSA recently hosted clinics in Poughkeepsie and
Kingston.
The DSA’s goal is to “free oppression and all types of
discrimination that currently exist in our system. Part of
that is making sure that people get what they need and
are not unfairly harassed or policed,” said Niklas Moran,
another leader of the DSA’s Mid-Hudson
Valley Chapter.
Anthony Grice, City Council Member
At Large, is also involved in planning the
brake light clinic.
“Joining those efforts are Community
Voices Heard, the Civic Engagement
Table, Rise Up Kingston, Nu-Voters
Movement, the Working Families Party,
other volunteers, and myself,” he said.
Grice knows what it is like to have a
broken brake light, as it has happened to
him. He knows “the safety risk it poses
to other drivers, the difficulty in finding
time or money to replace it, and the
concern of being pulled over.”
Omari Shakur, the local coordinator
for the Nu-Voters Movement who is also
running for City Council, teamed up with the DSA
to put on this event. He believes that this brake light
clinic will help destress certain members of Newburgh’s
community.
“There are a lot of minority communities where they
are overburdened already with high rents, and lack of
jobs, and other stuff. So, that little thing of getting a
brake light fixed, would be a big help [to them],” he said
Shakur indicated that Robinson Avenue “is where the
highest presence of minorities are located and is where
a lot of traffic stops generate.” He believes that a lot of
traffic stops are occurring because police are seeing
broken brake lights in the cars that drive around the
area. “That’s why we became a part of this effort. If we
could alleviate that problem, we can work on other things
[in the community],” he said.
Grice also understands the
potential economic impact on people
who get pulled over for a broken
brake light and then “may have a
ticket, court appearance and fine.”
According to Grice, “at this event,
there will not be any questions asked,
any income level requirements, any
ID requirements, nor anything else
that would hinder a person from
receiving this service. We will have a
mechanic from Top Notch Mechanics
assisting us as well.”
According to Frase, the DSA
is “interested in having sort of
conversations about the intersections
between poverty [along with] people’s
interactions with the police and police abuse of power.
And, we see the brake light clinic as a way to have
conversations about all of these different things.” Both
Frase and Moran believe that this is a common issue that
doesn’t singularly affect Newburgh. “People are coming
in contact with police namely thinking that they’ve
been unfairly stopped or that they are being treated in a
disrespectful manner by basically not having their rights
respected,” Frase said.
Though it isn’t known if Newburgh police are actually
targeting residents, Frase believes one thing is clear:
“What you look like, what your skin color is, and maybe
what your car looks like-- these are things that do
disproportionately affect who gets stopped and who
doesn’t.”
On June 8, from 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m., anyone with
a broken brake light in
their car is invited to go
to the municipal parking
lot on Ann Street,
between Liberty St. and
Johnston St. to get it
replaced for free.