NEWBURGH – With the most recent murder of a counselor at a facility for parolees at 44 Grand Street in Newburgh, city residents are voicing concerns about the influx of parolees and sex offenders coming into the community.
At Monday evening’s city council meeting, officials addressed the
issue, relaying that they share the concerns of the public and are currently
compiling data on the phenomenon to be released shortly.
City Manager Michael Ciaravino said the city wants to be open
and welcoming to all; however, they feel the city should not be responsible
for taking in offenders from Goshen, Port Jervis, Haverstraw, Monticello, Middletown and
out-of-state.
“While we all acknowledge that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, and those who are ultimately released from prison are entitled to the notion of redemption and being able to be rebuilt, replaced and put back into society, what we don’t want to be is the brothers’ and sisters’ keepers of all the other communities around us,” said Ciaravino.
Mayor Judy Kennedy echoed Ciaravino’s sentiment and said the city cannot logistically take in all the region’s released offenders, but she told residents the city doesn’t have much say in this matter in the first place.
“Please understand that, yes, we do want to take care of our own and we have been working, but also understand the County of Orange is the one that sends those folks here, and also understand that other counties can pay our county to send their folks here for six months and then they’re deemed to be citizens of this county and we have to take them on,” said Kennedy.
The mayor said she believes Newburgh is being targeted as an area to “dump” these individuals and said if it continues, the city will need some serious equity to undertake the task.
By Kennedy’s account, there are 136 sex offenders currently residing in the city, some of whom are not even from the county, let alone Newburgh.
Ciaravino said they will continue to investigate, compile and organize the data to be released in a comprehensive package to the public. In the meantime, city officials suggest that concerned residents reach out to their county legislators, as they are the ones who can initiate an action on the matter.
