The Newburgh Wants a Park Campaign is a community-led effort to designate Crystal Lake as a public park, a 110 acre greenspace currently owned by the City of Newburgh. Designating Crystal Lake as a park would achieve equity for the surrounding neighborhood, which is primarily low-income and black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and is the only ward in the city without a designated park.

Until recent years, Crystal Lake has been a potential community resource hidden in plain sight, underused by local residents, and abandoned to illegal dumping and other illicit activities. But the combined work of the City of Newburgh, individual Councilmembers, Scenic Hudson, The Sanctuary, other environmental justice aligned community organizations, and community volunteers has served as a catalyst to revitalize and protect Crystal Lake. Now the next step is to protect this invaluable greenspace in our community permanently and invest in making it a park all of us can enjoy.

We believe designating Crystal Lake as a public park will help connect people back to nature, address economic and racial inequities around access to the outdoors and recreational opportunities, improve our community’s physical and mental health, and create a better quality of life for all residents of Newburgh. In the past Crystal Lake was a place where community members swam, fished, picnicked and enjoyed a moment of peace together in nature. By coming together, we believe it can be that place again.

We are grateful to be working with the City of Newburgh Council and staff as they continue to explore the possibility of Crystal Lake’s designation as a public park. Showing community support is essential to make this a reality. Please sign our petition to support dedicating Crystal Lake as a public park in Newburgh's 3rd Ward to communicate to our city/ county/ state officials and private funding institutions that our urban greenspaces matter. We champion community engagement in all of our endeavors, and we thank you, esteemed community member, for your support in service of our shared goals.