Newburgh breaks ground on park honoring former mayor

Past and present Newburgh city officials broke ground on the Tyrone Crabb Memorial Park Friday in honor of the former city councilman and mayor who died soon after taking the oath of office.

Construction of Tyrone Crabb Memorial Park is expected to start later this year. Crabb served as city councilman from 1985 to 1989. He was elected mayor in November of 1999 and died Dec. 22, 1999, before his official term could begin. His widow Mary Crabb was appointed mayor following his death.

During his career, Crabb was also a teacher at Newburgh Free Academy, an Orange County mental health caseworker, served on the state Planning and Advisory Board and was chair of the Newburgh Republican Committee as well as the Newburgh Housing Authority.

Former Mayor Nicholas Valentine said in a news release, "Having had the pleasure of working with him on my first campaign in the City of Newburgh, Tyrone Crabb's leadership and dedication to the City was something I kept with me all my years of office. Therefore, dedicating a park in his name is something that I am truly proud of."

As a final tribute read at the official groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, the park will be "dedicated to a man who always knew that people's similarities are more profound than their differences, and was determined to prove it."

Community members have lobbied for a park on South and Grand streets, in the vacant lot across from Calvary Presbyterian Church and Old Town Cemetery for more than a decade.

When the city was finally able to allocate funds to match a grant from the New York State Department of Parks, an archaeological survey of the property found 19th century ruins on the site, temporarily staling the project. The design of the park was adjusted to preserve the site's history by the department of planning and development, the New York State Historic Preservation Office, community members and project architects Eberlin and Eberlin.