New York Fed president tours Orange County to discuss growth opportunities
Williams heard tourism spending hit $1.32 billion, but Orange County's 0.9% homeowner vacancy rate showed housing is still the bottleneck.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John C. Williams spent May 7 in Orange County, moving from Goshen to Legoland New York Resort and on to Newburgh as he met local leaders about growth, housing pressure and downtown revival. The daylong visit also included a community-development roundtable at the Highpoint event space and a moderated discussion hosted by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress at Mount Saint Mary College.
Williams, who has led the New York Fed since June 18, 2018, met local leaders in a county that sits about 50 miles north of Midtown Manhattan and sends about one in eight workers into New York City. The Federal Reserve’s Second District stretches across New York State, northern New Jersey, southwestern Connecticut, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Williams has been making regional visits across that footprint.
Orange County tourism officials put visitor spending at $1.32 billion in 2024, and tourism supported more than 11,700 local jobs. The New York Fed put the county’s tourism sector at about 14,000 jobs, with Woodbury Common, Storm King Art Center, Legoland New York Resort, Brotherhood Winery and West Point among the major draws. Apple picking, food-and-drink tourism and sporting events are part of the county’s agritourism economy.
County materials put the homeowner vacancy rate at just 0.9 percent and the renter vacancy rate at 4.4 percent, with median household income at $94,364. The county estimated 417,669 residents on July 1, 2025, up from 401,310 in the 2020 Census and about 10 percent higher than 2010.
Newburgh received more than $10 million in state funding in January for housing production, green infrastructure and waterfront work, including $6.89 million for infrastructure tied to three mixed-income, mixed-use developments on Liberty Street with more than 200 new homes. Another $2 million went to Newburgh Landing and $2 million backed a mixed-use project near Washington’s Headquarters that is slated for 145 housing units and 10,000 square feet of commercial space. The New York Fed put Kiryas Joel at 44,000 residents.
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