Orange County considers moving DMV, county offices from City of Newburgh
A double shooting in the City of Newburgh last week was blocks from the Department of Motor Vehicle on Broadway and just before the start of the workday. One person died and another was left in critical condition.
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News 12 has learned that Orange County officials are considering pulling multiple county offices from the City of Newburgh due to alleged problems with local government and ongoing concerns about crime.
A double shooting in the City of Newburgh last week was blocks from the Department of Motor Vehicle on Broadway and just before the start of the workday. One person died and another was left in critical condition.
The latest deadly violence might now be the final straw for County Executive Steve Neuhaus.
“Somebody was killed right during the workhour,” said Neuhuas. “We don’t have that in Middletown. We don’t have that in Port Jervis. We don’t have that in Goshen. If they can’t get a handle on it, I’m going to have to start making some difficult decisions.”
The city has seen what appears to be a surge in gun violence since 2021.
Police initially confirmed the spike, but a new city manager took over and quickly put department heads on gag orders – almost entirely stopping public information about crime from getting out.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus says city leaders have also isolated Newburgh from outside help and that he’s considering moving all the county’s operations from the city because of concerns with leadership and crime.
“Over the last year or so, it’s turned into a North Korean relationship. The sheriff ’s office, the DA’s office, state police have had issues,” said Neuhaus.
The county’s top leader says there’s a major disconnect between the county and City of Newburgh, and that county officials are not being notified about crime or anything else that could impact county operations and its employees.
“On a monthly basis, we meet with the supervisors and mayors of Orange County,” said Neuhuas. “We have zero representation from the City of Newburgh at any of those meetings.”
City officials haven’t responded to News 12's requests for comment.
The county says it's eying new locations in the Town of Newburgh for the DMV, Health Department, DSS, Probation and county bus services.
Neuhaus says a Transit Orange bus and two privately owned Leprechaun buses were shot at with a BB gun or pellet gun on St. Patrick’s Day in the City of Newburgh, causing $20,000 in damages. He says the county is unaware if anyone was arrested.
