Special events at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center like weekly concerts and a monthly rodeo attract crowds of up to 5,000 people and generate revenue for the programs available. They also generate noise complaints from neighbors in the Town of New Windsor.

During the Town of New Windsor’s August board meeting, a petition was filed containing 25 signatures from concerned residents about noise from the Newburgh Armory Unity Center.

The petition addresses residential concern over the noise and asks that the stages and other equipment that makes these high levels of noise be aimed towards the city.

New Windsor Town Supervisor George Meyers voiced concern about the noise at the August meeting and again at the September meeting of the town board.

“They’re killing me with the rodeo,” Meyers said.

Max Cuacuas, director of operations for the Armory Unity Center, said a permit process must be completed by a party hosting an event at the center. The permits come from the recreation department, fire department and police department of the City of Newburgh and are signed off by the city manager.

For the concerts that occur with live music, Cuacuas says the staging is set and aimed away from the town of New Windsor.

According to Cuacuas, instruments and sound guns were used to measure and make sure that decibel levels met the requirements.

Councilman Anthony Grice has discussed the noise with New Windsor officials. He said events usually end around 8 p.m. and must end by10 p.m. Once the event is over, the sound levels must not exceed 70 decibels, which produce the same level of noise as a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer.

“We’re always happy to have a conversation when something needs corrected,” Cuacuas said. “We’re happy to have a conversation with anyone who calls, so we have addressed issues with people who live in the City of Newburgh, people who live in New Windsor.”

Zamora Entertainment is a Latin American influenced entertainment, media and marketing agency founded by Pedro Zamora. This entertainment agency provides live entertainment and events for a variety of venues and organizations all across the country.

For the last decade at the Armory site, Zamora Entertainment has hosted live concerts and other events such as the rodeo for the greater Newburgh community, using the Armory space.

Debbie Medina, Director of Special Events for Zamora Entertainment, has been working with the company for over 12 years and has been working with the Armory for 11 years. Each event that Zamora Entertainment has worked with the Armory is all through proper city regulations.

Zamora Entertainment hopes to continue the work that they do for the community.

“We work with the City of Newburgh, we work with the new police commissioner and the new police chief, and the police department, the fire department, the fire marshals, we work with everyone,” Medina said. “We are here for the community.”