242 Broadway is being threatened with demolition, with the taxpayer footing a $250,000 bill. We cannot allow this to happen. The building can and must be saved!

Built in the early 1860s, 242 Broadway is aesthetically and historically important to Newburgh. It is the last of the pre-1870 mansard roof buildings on Broadway, a lone survivor of what was once a row of companion buildings. The architect and builder was likely William Hilton. He collaborated directly with renowned architects Calvert Vaux, Frederick Clarke Withers and George E Harney, trendsetters in America’s mid 19th Century Gothic Revival and architects in A. J. Downing’s circle of collaborators. William Hilton specialized in this type of mansard roof and helped popularize it here in Newburgh and the Hudson Valley region.

For years, members of the Architectural Review Commission and local residents have warned the owner of 242 Broadway about deteriorating conditions and of the serious need to stabilize and care for the building. Yet the city’s code compliance department failed to follow through with the necessary fines that would compel the owner to fix or sell the building, thereby allowing the neglect to continue.

Now the southeast corner is crumbling and presents an emergency situation. Although one city official states that the building can still be stabilized, the city’s engineers and fire department are recommending demolition…with the city’s taxpayers footing the $250K price tag!

We can’t allow this to happen. Sign this petition. Tell the Newburgh City Council to stop “Demolition By Neglect”! 

Saving this building is necessary to keep the fabric of our historic Main Street intact. It occupies a prominent corner and sets the scale of the street. The building is a protected historic structure within the East End Historic District, the largest historic district in New York State.

In addition, in our era of climate awareness it is irresponsible to add to the carbon output produced by demolition and new construction. This 150-year-old building paid its carbon debt a century ago. It is also less costly to stabilize than demolish. If stabilized, 242 Broadway can live on for another 150 years.

When we allow our architectural treasures to be Demolished By Neglect, we perpetuate conditions that let negligent property owners destroy our heritage, send quality-crafted buildings to landfills, stress our city emergency service resources and take advantage of our taxpayers.

Sign this petition. Tell the Newburgh City Council to stop “Demolition By Neglect”. 242 Broadway must be saved! 

—      We demand that the city take the advice of the Architectural Review Commission more seriously, make its recommendations statutorily enforceable, and put in place procedures to have the code compliance department enforce them.

—      We demand that the City of Newburgh do everything necessary to protect this building and ensure its survival, even if it means having to seize it from the owner who has so far failed to live up to his responsibilities as a custodian of the community’s history and heritage.

—      We demand that the City implement any other common-sense policies that will prevent neglectful property owners from engaging in “Demolition by Neglect” in our city.

Sign this petition. Tell the Newburgh City Council to stop “Demolition By Neglect”. 242 Broadway must be saved!