Addressing housing concerns and to ensure proper city codes are met, Mayor Torrance Harvey recently met with several City of Newburgh landlords to discuss each side’s grievances and to find solutions about development in the city. However, despite the positive approach, the meeting on July 25 faced heavy criticism online.

The meeting was made known to the general public through a Facebook posting with a caption and attached photo of Harvey and the landlords gathered in his office at City Hall. “I was called by a group of landlords to discuss their concerns with our city codes department and other things in government they wanted to express,” said Harvey in text. “I agreed to meet to also share complaints residents had about displacement and increases in rent. So I agreed to meet with them so we could come to a better understanding on how to move forward with all the grievances discussed with positive solutions.”

Present at the meeting also was Rabbi Jacob Ferencz, who served as the facilitator.

“The meeting with the mayor was very positive,” said Ferencz. “The purpose of the meeting was to make sure that these young business people believe in the City of Newburgh. They [the landlords] want to make sure that for the benefit of the city and of them that there is an open line of communication and that they want to make sure that they comply with the codes of the city and that they avoid any violations.”

Both supportive and harshly critical comments were left on the mayor’s social media. The post has since been removed from Facebook where it was first posted but Harvey wished to address those who had commented.

“I want people to understand the importance of civil dialogue and the art of effective communication. It’s my job as the Mayor to sit down and have dialogue with people who are interested in resolving issues or problems within our community so that productive conversations can birth new opportunities to compromise or create real solutions in real time,” he said in text.

As the posting had been removed, Ferencz did not see any of the comments written after the fact but did address the reactions there may have been to the meeting. “I’m not surprised, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are positive and negative comments on everything. I don’t think people should be concerned,” said Ferencz. “We want to be good neighbors.”

In Newburgh, groups such as Community Voices Heard and For The Many have voiced their opposition to slumlords and other housing tactics that have left residents concerned about housing. Projects such as Legacy House before the city’s planning and zoning boards have also created a recent stir in the concerns for overall housing in the Johnston St. neighborhood, though the intent is to follow the mission of the Sisters who founded the ministry.