City bans sale and possession of fireworks

- Lina Wu
Posted 6/17/20

The Newburgh City Council voted to prohibit the possession and sale of sparklers and sparkling devices like fireworks at last Monday’s council meeting.Only Councilman Omari Shakur voted against …

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City bans sale and possession of fireworks

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The Newburgh City Council voted to prohibit the possession and sale of sparklers and sparkling devices like fireworks at last Monday’s council meeting.
Only Councilman Omari Shakur voted against the resolution to add “Article III- Fireworks and Sparkling Devices” to chapter 172 of the city’s code of ordinances.

“With all that’s going on in our community right now, with all these policing here, no,” said Shakur. “We don’t need another excuse for them to go through our community stopping people, no.”

Councilman Anthony Grice later posted on Facebook about the ban. Grice said that Newburgh is the first and only city in New York State to ban the sale and possession of sparklers and sparkling devices. He said that since sparklers and sparkling devices are banned, they can be taken away and destroyed.

Grice said he understands the entertainment of sparklers and sparkling devices, but he said that there is more risk than benefit.

“That is not what’s happening. People who have to go to work in the morning are being kept up late in the night,” said Grice. “Babies are being startled out of their sleep. Pets are being frightened.”

Grice said it would help if Orange County could pass a resolution county wide, or if the Town of New Windsor and Town of Newburgh could monitor their sales of sparklers and sparkling devices.