Reprieve for historic building facing demolition

By Alberto Gilman
Posted 12/28/21

Christmas came early for some City of Newburgh preservationists who fought to save a century-old Broadway building from what they called “demolition by neglect.”

On December 20, City …

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Reprieve for historic building facing demolition

Posted

Christmas came early for some City of Newburgh preservationists who fought to save a century-old Broadway building from what they called “demolition by neglect.”

On December 20, City Judge Anika Mohammed issued a ruling that will keep the building standing at least through the holidays.

Attorney Joseph Saffiotti told the judge that his client, owner Ben Papaleo, had already hired a structural engineer to assess the building prior to the hearing. Several bricks and materials had fallen off the building the previous week and so the area was blocked off.

“We got letters of support from both the New York State Preservation League and from the Newburgh Preservation Association and those letters stated that they are resources that are available to the property owner,” Orange County Historian Johanna Porr-Yaun said.

As ruled by Mohammed, the defendant needed to submit by 2 p.m. Wednesday, December 22 a proposal from the structural engineer to the city court and plaintiff counsel (Jeremy Kaufman of Corporation Counsel) that outlined proposed status and plan for the building. Mohammed set another hearing for January 13, 2022 for updates and permit reviews.

The building at 242 Broadway is one of the ‘last of the pre-1870 mansard roof buildings on Broadway’. It was built by William Hilton, who collaborated with Andrew Jackson Downing, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Clarke Withers, according to Porr-Yaun.

Heather Henricksen-Georghiou, a local history librarian of the Newburgh Free Library, collected records of past tenants at 242 Broadway. These records are from the Newburgh City Directories from the Newburgh Free Library Local History Room. According to the records, in 1920, Park Hotel Lunch operated there followed by Park Hotel & Restaurant in 1925. In 1930, Lodging House & Harvey’s Super Tire Service were tenants. From 1935 to 1940, Harvey’s Tires operated at that address. Other businesses operated at that location included Hudson Rug (1955), Fugazy Travel Bureau (1961) and the Newburgh Travel Center (1981-96).

As of Wednesday, December 22, a Change.org survey, started by Porr-Yaun, had collected 1,673 signatures to prevent the demolition of the building. The goal is 2,500.

Porr-Yaun had received over 100 directly emailed letters against the demolition. Between various web pages and platforms, 53 statements were against the demolition, according to Porr-Yaun.

Lori Willaims wrote: “My family has resided in Newburgh since the 1800s. My hope is that there is someone out there willing to take on this project and save, not destroy, a piece of Newburgh’s past.” Tamar Samir wrote: “Saving and preserving 242 Broadway is the right thing to do for historic preservation, for sustainability, and it’s good business.” Paul Banks wrote: “I support giving the owner of this building a chance to stabilize it and restore it.”