U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo called Newburgh a "double-trouble city," with both unemployment and poverty rates 50 percent higher than the national average (Grunwald A1). "I've seen the reality of Lawrence, Massachusetts and Gary, Indiana, and Newburgh, New York. And I know, if the American people saw this reality, they'd do something about it," he remarked." Out of all the distressed cities in the country, he singled out three, and one of them was Newburgh.

     Testament to Newburgh's suffering are its buildings. However these buildings, and the efforts of dedicated residents and businesspeople, are also a sign of the city's tremendous potential. The images of houses and buildings are bleak, but imagine these buildings brought back to life. In fact, Newburgh has an active cohort of people dedicated to saving these pieces of history and art. One of their main targets is The Dutch Reformed Church, shown above, designed in the Greek Revival style by A.J. Davis in 1835. The deterioration of this church demonstrates how suburban growth took life away from the city. By 1970, most of the Dutch Reformed congregation had moved to the suburbs, and as they left they turned the church over to the city, which planned to demolish the building. But citizen persistence saved the building, and by 2001, the Secretary of the Interior declared this church a National Historic Landmark. Now with the recognition it deserves, multiple sources of funding, and the dedication of groups such as the Newburgh Preservation Association, one day the church will return to how it looks in the second image above, as well as in the image below showing the inside in its better days.

"Wanna get high? Newburgh's the superstore" - Times-Herald Record columnist (Dowd)

     Lander Street, in the heart of the East End Historic District, is notorious for its drug scene. According to the 2000 Census, 1 out of 3 housing units around the Lander Street vicinity is vacant, such as the once beautiful Downing-inspired house shown in the image above. Abandoned housing and vacant lots facilitate drug activity. Pushers sell from these buildings, whose doors have been well-fortified and fitted with multiple escape routes (Randall). Many of the buyers are suburban teenagers who drive their parents' cars to Newburgh (Randall).

     But opportunity peaks through the grim conditions on Lander Street. In the past few ears developers have been busy on Lander Street addressing the problem by taking away these crack havens. One developer, taking advantage of federal low-income housing and historic rehabilitation tax credits, has restored at least 30 historic rowhouses built in the 1850s and turned them into affordable rental units.

     Houses deteriorated in part because the city used to allowed owners to carve out multiple dwellings out of single- or two-family homes, which, while providing affordable housing for the poor, created a business for "welfare slumlords" (Hall and Roeback). See the video clip of Liberty Street (size: 1MB).