The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has awarded a grant to Newburgh to improve the city’s urban forest.
The funds will be used to remove 35 trees that pose a danger because of falling limbs and disease. Of the trees to be removed, five are in the city’s Downing Park and seven are infected ash trees on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The $40,000 grant will also enable the preparation of 20 empty tree spots for planting along the Broadway Corridor. Chair of Newburgh’s Conservation Advisory Council Chuck Thomas says the grant will go a long way toward the re-greening of Broadway, the city’s main business district, which has been virtually devoid of trees for many years.