The Wallkilling of Warwick
By Jeffrey Page
Big changes are coming to Warwick.
Almost directly across the road from one supermarket on Route 94 will be a second supermarket, and there will be other new businesses along 94 just outside the Village of Warwick. Add to this the existing retail shops, car dealers, garden shops, machine rentals, etc. and you can understand three major concerns.
One is traffic. A second is the effect of new development on the downtown commercial area of the village. A third is the changing nature of the town and village. Some people say enough is enough. Others are OK with it.
Last month, a man began his letter to the editor of The Warwick Advertiser with a provocative thought: “I wonder how different Warwick would be if the residents back in, say, 1960 had decided ‘no more development.’”
He ended with a rhetorical question, and his answer to it. “Would Warwick be a better place? I don’t think so.”
And so, a modest proposal: Replace the word “Warwick” with the word “Wallkill” and read the letter again. Make other changes if you wish. Here’s how it sounded when I tried it:
I wonder how different Wallkill would be if the residents back in, say, 1960 had decided “no more development.”
Would Wallkill be a better place? I think it would.
Then I called Glenn Doty, who was the managing editor of The Times Herald-Record when I got a job there in 1972. Glenn grew up in Warwick, lived much of his adult life in Middletown, and today lives in Walden.
I asked him to imagine it was 1960 again and that he was driving south on Route 211 from Scotchtown, through the Town of Wallkill, and into Middletown. What was it like? What did he see?
“It was farm country,” Glenn said. “You’d pass several farms on your way into the city of Middletown. And when there wasn’t a farm, you’d see acres of vacant land.”
The area had yet to be discovered by developers, a group of people who salivate at the very thought of vacant land. Route 211 was a country road, not the endless strand of malls, stores, restaurants, burger places and traffic-light-after-traffic-light it would become.
“It was quiet,” Glenn said. “There wasn’t much traffic at all.”
He recalled the first rumblings of development. It was a decision by Ed Lloyd to open a large – by early 1960s standards – supermarket on 211 about halfway between Wisner Avenue and the site of the present Orange Plaza.
“Ed Lloyd was running a grocery store in Middletown at the time and decided to expand out into Wallkill,” Glenn said. “Everybody thought he was crazy.”
As they say, crazy like a fox.
Aprés Lloyd, le dèluge. In came Orange Plaza. In came the Caldor mall. In came the burger places. In came the sit-down restaurants. In came Sears and Sullivan’s, J.C. Penney and Green’s, Thom McAn and Steinbach’s. Later, in came the Galleria, which put Orange Plaza out of business for 10 years or so until it reopened. (Lloyd also opened a supermarket in Warwick; it eventually became the Shop Rite that exists today on Route 94.)
With the massive commercial development, in came more and more traffic until 211 couldn’t handle it anymore. And in came the traffic lights. And in came the traffic jams. Then, in came the expansion of Route 211, which used to be a two-lane road. And with the widening, in came even more traffic.
As Wallkill’s commercial base expanded under the slightly purplish haze of carbon monoxide, the central business district of Middletown suffered terribly. (Now, it’s finally coming back, however slowly.) Not only did Wallkill’s development injure the city, it even caused much of its own rural character to vanish.
In the future, when someone suggests that Route 94, Kings Highway, Route 17A and County Route 1 be widened to make travel to Warwick easier to reach, remember Route 211 – in 1960 and now.
And when it is further suggested that town and village officials make it easier for developers to build a couple of swell malls – let’s say another few Gallerias – remember the Town of Wallkill – in 1960 and now.
* * *
A Clarification: In a rush to file last week’s blog, I noted – without attribution – that threats against President Obama’s safety were running 400 percent greater than against the previous few presidents. Without citing a source, this could have left the impression that it was an official Secret Service statistic. In fact, it comes from a book about the Secret Service and was disputed by Mark Sullivan, the director of the Secret Service, in testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee.
Jeffrey can be reached at jeffrey@zestoforange.com
Tags: Jeffrey Page
December 13th, 2009 at 12:45 am
It’s interesting to look back at the Town of Wallkill as it was almost 50 years ago, but let’s imagine how it might be 50 years from now. . . .
Most of the quickly- and cheaply-built malls have fallen into decay. Just as the first version of Orange Plaza was plagued by leaky roofing and deterioration, other malls are now mostly empty. Likewise, places near these malls such as stand-alone restaurants (the old Rusty Nail, Friendly’s – the Newburgh one is already closed, etc.) have long since given up the ghost.
Instead, people are turning to the old, sturdy buildings of downtown. The old factories and stores have been remodeled and are now considered “quaint.” They have become cafes, gift shops, health food stores, book and music shops and antique stores. The streets are filled with produce vendors, sidewalk art galleries and people walking – not driving – to their destinations. The public has turned away from the WalMarts and Targets, the Sam’s Clubs and the B & Gs, in favor of small shops offering, handmade and/or locally grown items. They like walking or bicycling to the nearby center of town where they know the people they’re dealing with. The inner city has blossomed, while out of town, bushes and trees push through asphalt parking lots in the ‘burbs. The abandoned malls slowly turn into vacant fields, as nature takes its inevitable course. And the cycle begins once again. . . .