T IMES
MID
HUDSON
Funding
awarded for
city housing
study
Vol. 31, No. 26
3
JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2019
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Inside Page 17
SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR
T he F uture H as A rrived
By ILYSSA DALY
The New York State Senate and
Assembly recently passed historic
legislation that strengthened rent laws
and tenant protections for New Yorkers,
right before the original laws expired.
In a joint statement from Senate
Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins
and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie,
they called the new laws “the strongest
tenant protections in history.” They also
acknowledged that power has historically
“been tilted in favor of landlords” and
this new legislation “finally restore[s]
equity and extend[s] protections to
tenants across the state.”
Benjamin Dulchin, the Executive
Director of
the Association of
Neighborhood and Housing Development,
called the new legislation a “step forward
for millions of tenants.” Dulchin said
in a statement that “for too long, weak
regulations have led speculators to harass
and displace tenants in communities
across New York. Affordable housing
developers know that stability benefits
both tenants and landlords, and that
housing quality and housing affordability
can go hand in hand.”
In the wake of new rent protections
for tenants in New York, the City of
Newburgh received $150,000 for a housing
study to address inequality, poverty,
Continued on page 3
Members of the Newburgh Free Academy Class of 2019 make their way to Academy Field Tuesday night for graduation exercises. Complete
coverage of the NFA Graduation will appear in next week’s Mid Hudson Times.
Orange County unveils new transportation plan
By ILYSSA DALY
It is no secret that public transportation
or infrastructure may not be readily
available, accessible, or up to code for
residents throughout Orange County.
But, lawmakers are seeking to improve
this.
Every few years, the Orange County
Transportation Council creates a five
year plan complete with funding for the
entire county. Called the Transportation
Improvement Program (TIP), every
municipality is required to submit this
plan in order to receive federal funding
for various long-term transportation
projects. After the proposal is created,
the government allows for a period of
30 days for public comment. Though the
Federal FY 2020-2024 Transportation
Improvement Program was released in
May, the public comment period began on
June 24, 2019 and will end on July 23, 2019.
As every idea in this proposal is funded
with federal highway or federal transit
funds, they can be used to improve
highways, bridges, bikeways, public
transit, among other transportation
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projects.
The
Orange
County
Transportation Council additionally
works with government officials on local
and state levels, people involved in public
transit, and other relevant members in
order to create the five year plan.
The inception of the TIP program dates
back to December of 2015, when President
Barack Obama signed the Fixing
America’s Surface Transportation (FAST)
Act. According to the U.S. Department
of Transportation’s Federal Highway
Continued on page 3