The economy, we are told, is improving, with unemployment dropping to record lows. Tell that to the 90 or so local residents or the 30,000 national employees of YRC Freight who recently lost their jobs.
As reported here last week, the end came suddenly and swiftly. The company ceased operations on July 31, with little advance warning. The Maybrook terminal is now silent.
Most of us already know the story of the village’s role as a major transportation hub, linking the Atlantic states to the west and the New York metropolitan area to New England. Maybrook, which celebrates its centennial in 2025, was a railroad hub, built by scores of Italian immigrants who crossed through Ellis Island and who were fortunate enough to find suitable work at the railroad terminal. Work in the machine shop and as engineers helped sustain those families for the next half century.
That all changed in 1974, when fire struck the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, effectively shutting down the rail line. The charred bridge, rendered inoperable, lay abandoned for many years, until finding new life as the Walkway Over the Hudson. Maybrook’s first era had passed.
Yellow Freight came to the rescue in 1981, when it acquired a portion of the former rail yards. The old roundhouse and administration building were razed and tracks were dug up, but diesel trucks soon replaced the locomotives that passed through the village.
There is much speculation as to why the company failed, with management and labor unions pointing finger at each other. The company, notes Maybrook Mayor Dennis Leahy, had used a threat to close the facility as a bargaining chip in the past. This time, they carried out the threat, despite a $700 million COVID-relief loan from the Federal government. Maybrook’s second era had passed.
The mayor is confident that the property will not lie vacant long. Some of the former rail yard is already being developed as part of the much-anticipated Galaxy Development that will include a business park. He believes the Yellow Freight property is prime real estate and should attract more investors.
That’s good news for the region, but little consolation for anyone out of work in the summer of 2023. Hopefully that third era is not that far off into the future.