Taking a Close Look at Newburgh’s Income Distribution

This past week I had the opportunity to hear quite a few voices about the proposed “Alembic Project!”

The first voices came forth from the “Hester Street” group and the information that they shared was truly mind-boggling. They gave very important information about “Income Distribution” in the city of Newburgh, which was very mind-blowing, and I’m quite sure many will feel very distraught about these numbers.

Over a “third” of residents in the city of Newburgh earn between $12K-$24K and more than half of households earn below $50K. Area Median Income (AMI) is a statistic generated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to determine the eligibility of applicants for certain federal housing programs.

Newburgh’s AMI includes the incomes for people across the region, including Poughkeepsie, Middletown, New Windsor, etc. Nearly 70% of Newburgh residents qualify for some form of affordable housing. Wow! The city of Newburgh’s Median Household Income is $34,348 while the U.S. Median Household Income is $59,039.

There is something drastically wrong with this picture. 36.4% of residents in the city of Newburgh are in the “Extremely Low Income” bracket, 27.7% are in the “Very Low Income” bracket and 13.6% are in the “Low Income” bracket.

Taking those numbers into consideration, how is it possible to say that the city of Newburgh does not need anymore “Affordable” housing. “Moderate Income” residents are 7.7%, “Middle Income” residents are 9.6% and “High Income” residents are 3.7%. There is something most definitely wrong with that picture. Wow!

The city of Newburgh’s government has failed when it comes to Economic Development for this city and it leads one to wonder why?

This didn’t just start, and truthfully poverty has made some folks very well off. This city has “Never” been marketed properly and one has to ask “why not? “All” roads lead to Newburgh for we have the air, water, roads and railway, therefore there is something very “Seriously” wrong with this picture. I can most definitely understand why property owners feel the way that they do for the weight of keeping this city going is upon their shoulders. I note that over 400 people have signed the petition requesting our city government to not support the Alembic Project and some have been very “boisterous about this issue.

“Community Voices Heard” & “Civic Engagement Table” are holding meetings trying to get the community’s attention about this most significant issue because “All” lives do matter. Their next meeting is Wednesday, March 28th at 6:30 PM at 87 Ann St. Taking into consideration the “Seriousness” of this most significant issue hopefully the Churches, NAACP, and all other concerned citizens will come together and try to “Seriously” sit down together to solve this problem because numbers don’t lie. We cannot afford to allow this issue to divide and separate us because whether we agree or not, we are “All” going to be affected in one way or the other by this situation. Always remember that a house so deeply divided will “Never” be able to reach it’s full potential. Let’s join hands striving towards making our city truly what it could and should be whereby people of “All” cultures will be able to exist together in harmony. The bottom line to “All” of this is “Jobs!” “Jobs!” “Jobs!” “Economic Development!”
“Poverty breeds crime and also breeds programs that seems to benefit only those that work in those programs!” Newburgh is a cash cow for some and a cemetery for others!”

This is “Lillie’s Point Of View” and I’m just having my say!!!