Mid Hudson Times Mar. 30 2016

TIMES MID City homicide Newburgh resident dies in Benkard Ave. shooting HUDSON Vol. 28, No 13 3 MARCH 30 - APRIL 5, 2016 Community based agriculture Better days ahead? Page 25 Page 48 3 ONE DOLLAR SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR ‘Beautiful space’ ‘People’s Waterfront’ opens for 2016 season By SHANTAL RILEY [email protected] A shooting on Benkard Avenue took the life of a 51-year-old man last Friday. It is the first homicide this year in the City of Newburgh, and the second shooting to take place on Benkard Avenue in little more than two months. Glenton A. Wright was killed when he was shot near 50 Benkard Ave. on March 25. City of Newburgh WHAT: Public forum on police said gun violence in the City of the incident Newburgh took place WHEN: 12 p.m., Sat., April 2 around 9:15 WHERE: City of Newburgh p.m. There Activity Center, 401 were no Washington St. other people harmed in the shooting. Wright was pronounced dead at the scene. City residents describe Wright as a gentle, family man. “The only thing he was guilty of was getting out of the car,” said Omari Shakur at a City of Newburgh Council meeting Monday. Calling on parents, he said, “You need to get control of your children. The children are running the streets.” Wright’s widow attended the meeting bereft and leaning on crutches. “My 10-year-old had to witness this,” she said, not giving her name. “My baby, I don’t know what to tell him… This is not fair. Continued on page 4 Shantal Riley The “People’s Waterfront” at the former Consolidated Iron site on the Hudson River. By SHANTAL RILEY [email protected] A rugged, scenic stretch of waterfront was opened up to the public earlier this month. The “People’s Waterfront” offers more than seven acres of open field and stunning views of the Hudson River. “It’s a beautiful space,” said Newburgh City Planner Ali Church on Saturday. Visitors walked the parcel for the first time since it came off of the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priority List of Superfund sites. “It has been remediated to the recreational level,” said Church. The land hasn’t yet been developed to the level of a municipal park, said Church, but once the land was deemed safe by the EPA, “the idea was to just open it up to the public.” Standing in the park at the edge of WWW.MIDHUDSONTIMES.COM the Hudson River over the weekend, visitors were treated to views set against the Hudson Highlands. “I’m glad it’s all cleaned up,” said Dave McTamaney at the river’s edge. “It needs some clearing,” he said, swatting at clumps of wild sumac. McTamaney said he didn’t want to see the site become over-developed. “I don’t want to see it turn into a place where Continued on page 4