Downing Park bench, tree honor three watershed pioneers in Newburgh

A new bench and October Glory maple in Downing Park now mark the names of three men whose volunteer work helped shape Newburgh’s environmental movement long before creek restoration became a familiar phrase in city meetings. Set along Haible Way overlooking the pond, the memorial honors Peter Smith, Nick Tulve and Ronald “Animal” Hughes, three early leaders of the Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance.

Members of the alliance and other local environmental groups gathered at the park on May 16 to remember the men, though the bench itself was installed in summer 2025 and the tree was planted in fall 2025. The alliance waited for warmer weather to hold the formal dedication, turning the quiet spot into a public marker for people who, by all accounts, were more likely to do the work than seek attention for it. The maple was chosen for its orange-red fall color, a fitting match for a park seat that looks out over one of Newburgh’s best-known public landscapes.

The three honorees came to the watershed effort from different paths. Smith was an architect and author who joined the alliance in its early years and later received a Hudson River Watershed Alliance award. Newburgh Clean Water Project material says he created a planning primer for the Quassaick Creek Corridor, helping lay groundwork for future restoration thinking. Tulve, born in Newburgh on June 13, 1940, taught science at Newburgh Free Academy, worked at IBM and served 34 years in the Navy and Army Reserve before his death on March 21, 2019. Hughes, who died on July 5, 2023, served in the U.S. Air Force before retiring as a technical sergeant, worked on the Quassaick Creek greenway and was also remembered as a deep source of Newburgh history.

Their names carry added weight because the creek work they supported is still unfinished. Quassaick Creek runs through Newburgh before flowing into the Hudson River, and it forms the border between the City of Newburgh and the Town of New Windsor. Orange County says the Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance is a coalition advocating for implementation of the watershed management plan across portions of five municipalities in two counties.

That broader effort includes Scenic Hudson’s long-running vision for a Quassaick Creek Greenway, which aims to connect residents to the creek, restore its ecosystem and create a link to upland forests from the Hudson waterfront. Scenic Hudson’s feasibility study, coordinated with the City of Newburgh and Orange County, was shaped by public input from Newburgh and New Windsor residents. The Downing Park bench now places those plans in human terms: the creek’s future depends on whether the next generation keeps carrying forward the work Smith, Tulve and Hughes helped begin.