So I've written this once, and thanks again to blogger, lost it all. So we'll have to write it again, and with less time for it.
I spent the day yesterday in Newburgh. It was so nice to get back on foot, learning at the real pace of life... I had a meeting set up in the afternoon and sandwiched some other informal discussion and touristing around it. I started with the library where I was hoping to find some information or statistics on local situations, economics, crime, etc. They really don't have anything of the sort, only a local history section, and in fact the city doesn't even have anything either. I did however get sent to talk to the library's two people that work on outreach programs. I had a very nice informal chat with them about the city and the goings on. They recommended a few places worth looking into that I will get into later today or tomorrow as I have meetings over there both days. I also met another gentlemen that works with Latinos Unidos and came to visit one of the Library workers that works with them. They rent office space for under $300 dollars a month on broadway there in Newburgh. They said the incorporation process was long, like five years for them. I can't see how that is, but they are all volunteer so maybe it took a while longer.
From there I went to my meeting with Community Voices Heard. This meeting went quite well despite the standard overworked and no time having staff that you tend to find in non-profits. I really liked what they are doing, trying to bring the community closer together in terms of political voice. Some of the things that they want to do in terms of material outputs and opportunities are things that I had already been thinking about. They could certainly be someone worth communicating and cooperating with regularly. But I will be careful not to align myself with anyone, especially in the beginning. From all discussion thus far it seems that sides have been taken and things are quite obstinate there. On a positive note, I also did get to speak to two of the members of Community Voices that came in during the discussion, and while the meeting did leave many of my questions unasked, I got a little more back in terms of community input than I expected. The meeting left a lot wanting, which is a good thing...
On the way to that meeting though I had a chance to wonder the streets a bit. I tell you what... Newburgh is a disaster. I would not feel it to be a stretch at all to say that every third building is boarded up and vacant where I was. At Community Voices they said that the city owned something like 200 vacant properties - in a city of 4 square miles! This doesn't even include derelict privately owned buildings. It shows. The streets are all but vacant (at least until it got dark), and there is this air of hopelessness that wafts through the air. There is so much to be done.
I stopped and chatted with a cop for a few minutes as well, speaking of hopelessness. Now, I would expect a cop to be cynical, but he said flat out: "not gonna happen, never." He'd been working for 17 years in Newburgh, and sees no hope: "They don't want to make it better, they like the lifestyle." "They want their handouts and they will use violence to get them". Amazing, yet unsurprising. Can anyone find me a cop in any city in the world that is optimistic?! They are surrounded every day by the criminals of society, so they don't see the hope. But everyone has it somewhere. He did say though that, within a four block radius of where we were standing that there had been 8 murders in three years. "Blood alley" he called it. The street we were standing on was where they FBI made most of its arrests in the 76 person gang sting last year.
So after those and some other words of warning, I headed on my way - wondering how in the world they would ever get people or business to locate in the city with a sales pitch like that! This was a general theme of a lot that day.
There was however one certainly amusing moment for me on my way back to the car. I walked by a group of youngish guys in front of a store. I of course made my friendly eye contact and a nod. One kid then came running over with a bootleg DVD, "The Mechanic" with my brother from another mother Jason Statham in the leading role. I laughed, and said with a smile, yeah but do you accept EBT? He looked at me with this puzzled look of incomprehension on his face. Food Stamps... I said, breaking him away from his puzzlement. A startled shiver came across his face, like, wait, but this doesn't make sense, this dude's white!! lol!! Yes my friend, we're all poor in one way or another these days...
From there I went to my meeting with Community Voices Heard. This meeting went quite well despite the standard overworked and no time having staff that you tend to find in non-profits. I really liked what they are doing, trying to bring the community closer together in terms of political voice. Some of the things that they want to do in terms of material outputs and opportunities are things that I had already been thinking about. They could certainly be someone worth communicating and cooperating with regularly. But I will be careful not to align myself with anyone, especially in the beginning. From all discussion thus far it seems that sides have been taken and things are quite obstinate there. On a positive note, I also did get to speak to two of the members of Community Voices that came in during the discussion, and while the meeting did leave many of my questions unasked, I got a little more back in terms of community input than I expected. The meeting left a lot wanting, which is a good thing...
On the way to that meeting though I had a chance to wonder the streets a bit. I tell you what... Newburgh is a disaster. I would not feel it to be a stretch at all to say that every third building is boarded up and vacant where I was. At Community Voices they said that the city owned something like 200 vacant properties - in a city of 4 square miles! This doesn't even include derelict privately owned buildings. It shows. The streets are all but vacant (at least until it got dark), and there is this air of hopelessness that wafts through the air. There is so much to be done.
I stopped and chatted with a cop for a few minutes as well, speaking of hopelessness. Now, I would expect a cop to be cynical, but he said flat out: "not gonna happen, never." He'd been working for 17 years in Newburgh, and sees no hope: "They don't want to make it better, they like the lifestyle." "They want their handouts and they will use violence to get them". Amazing, yet unsurprising. Can anyone find me a cop in any city in the world that is optimistic?! They are surrounded every day by the criminals of society, so they don't see the hope. But everyone has it somewhere. He did say though that, within a four block radius of where we were standing that there had been 8 murders in three years. "Blood alley" he called it. The street we were standing on was where they FBI made most of its arrests in the 76 person gang sting last year.
So after those and some other words of warning, I headed on my way - wondering how in the world they would ever get people or business to locate in the city with a sales pitch like that! This was a general theme of a lot that day.
There was however one certainly amusing moment for me on my way back to the car. I walked by a group of youngish guys in front of a store. I of course made my friendly eye contact and a nod. One kid then came running over with a bootleg DVD, "The Mechanic" with my brother from another mother Jason Statham in the leading role. I laughed, and said with a smile, yeah but do you accept EBT? He looked at me with this puzzled look of incomprehension on his face. Food Stamps... I said, breaking him away from his puzzlement. A startled shiver came across his face, like, wait, but this doesn't make sense, this dude's white!! lol!! Yes my friend, we're all poor in one way or another these days...
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