BY STUDENT
When thinking of the most dangerous cities in the United States, one will often think of the biggest and most well-known cities in the country. What may not come to mind is a small city in upstate New York, bordering the Hudson River. This is where the city of Newburgh sits; and as many may not know, is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. With a population nearing 30,000 people, it does not fit the traditional idea of a big crime city as it simply does not have the sheer population to put it on most people’s radar. Nearly 50 percent of that population is made up of Latinx people. This number has been steadily rising, as it was only around 36% in the year 2000. With such a large number of Hispanic/Latinx people, how does the high crime level in Newburgh affect its Latinx population?
Nestled in the scenic Hudson Valley, Newburgh sits 60 miles north of New York City and 90 miles south of Albany. Newburgh is in Orange County, which is largely made up of rural or suburban towns, but still feels like it could be the sixth borough of New York City. A publication called NeighboorhoodScout, which has extensive information on crime rates, has Newburgh with a Crime Index score of 9/100, meaning it is only safer than 9% of U.S. cities. The violent crime rate in Newburgh is 12.66 (per 1,000 residents), while the New York state rate is just 3.57. This publication has ranked Newburgh in the top 15 most dangerous cities in the United States multiple times over the last few years.
Because of its location on the Hudson River and in between the city and upstate New York, Newburgh was an industrial hub in the early 20thcentury. This led many Latino workers to migrate up to Newburgh from New York city in search of these industrial jobs. However, Newburgh was hit by deindustrialization in the late 20thcentury and saw an decline in economic activity. Its large Latino population was then led into the life of crime just to make ends meet. This often involved the selling and distribution of drugs, which led into the establishment of many different gangs in the area. The southeast side of the city which is a largely Latino area is home to many Latino gangs such as the Latin Kings, la Eme and the Benkard Barrio Kings. These gangs are widely acknowledged in the media and now the Latino population in Newburgh is known around the surrounding areas as associated with crime. The Latino population in Newburgh has now been the subject of writing crime into place as experiencing deindustrialization has led them into living their lives in a place full of crime and dominated by gangs.
Works Cited
Deibert, Michael. “Resurrecting Newburgh, the Once-Grand American City That Had Its Heart Torn Out.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Apr. 2015, www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/08/resurrecting-newburgh-once-grand-american-city-heart-torn-out.
Muhammad, Khalil Gibran. Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, with a New Preface. Harvard Univ Press, 2019.
Rivera, Ray. “Newburgh, Where Gang Violence Reigns.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 May 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12newburgh.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
Schiller, Andrew. “Newburgh, NY Crime Rates.” NeighborhoodScout, NeighborhoodScout, 21 Dec. 2018, www.neighborhoodscout.com/ny/newburgh/crime.
i have a few friends from the Newburgh are and they told me stories from when they were growing up that corresponded with the information you provided. Also last semester I had a roommate that was from Newburgh and she told me about the people who escape the prison that is in the town.
ReplyDeleteI am from Upstate new York , Rochester . Its Just like in Newburgh in the sense that it is not big but is very dangerous . The number of people who live there and amount of crime that happens is very high .
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting to hear that Newburgh has some of the same gangs as Albany has. I have heard of the Latin Kings and some are even located in different parts of Albany. In addition I didn't know Newburgh is one of the dangerous cities.
ReplyDeleteI like how you provided actual statistics to back up your argument. It would have been interesting to see Newburgh's overall crime ranking in the US though.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting read! I had no idea that Newburgh had such a high crime level. It is crazy to see how badly deindustrialization can negatively affect a city. Even though I'm not from New York, I have heard of the latin kings. I didn't know they were also located in Newburgh. It's sad that this city has such a bad reputation and that people from here are automatically labeled as being part of the crime. Like you mentioned, writing crime into place. The use of statistics really supported your argument!
ReplyDeleteI also live Upstate in a city called Utica that has a similar history to Newburgh. The Latinx population isn't as big but they face similar problems when it pertains to crime. Typically the inner city, which is where the Latinx community resides, is where most crimes are reported. It's sad how the Latinx community can be labeled as criminals because once a group is labeled it can be hard to get rid of and not everyone in the group partakes in illegal activity.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been to Newburgh once and I never knew that it had such a high crime rate. It was very interesting to learn a town fairly close and similar to my town has such a high crime rate.
ReplyDeleteGreat work. I enjoyed learning about a place that I've never heard of. I like how you mentioned key topics such as deindustrialization and crime/drugs and connected them with your main topic. The numbers supported your argument and gave us a good background. Crime is everywhere but knowing why is important as well.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Newburgh, or explored upstate cities but Albany and Buffalo. Coming from the city I do see why crime rates are increasing. Even though the city has crime, i'd never expect a suburban area to have higher crime rates. To the Latinx community that continues to be labeled as criminals, Newburgh is not the only city deindustrialization with a high Latinx population. To grow out of this "label" is definitely hard especially for minorities. I am glad you brought light to this city, bringing awareness often brings change.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting to learn that the city of Newburgh even though so small is considered as one of the most dangerous in the country. One would think Newburgh being in Upstate New York would be a low crime rate area but instead it's the opposite. Great blogpost.
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