Newburgh man dies in Beacon cliff-diving accident at Fishkill Creek

A 34-year-old Newburgh man died Thursday evening after jumping from a cliff into Fishkill Creek near Beacon’s Groveville Mill Dam, a death that now sends a warning to Orange County families heading into peak summer recreation season. Vincent Javinett’s death near 508 Fishkill Avenue pulled Beacon firefighters, New York State Police divers and local police into a recovery effort that ended with a body pulled from the creek.

Emergency crews were dispatched at 7:34 p.m. to the area southeast of 508 Fishkill Ave., and first responders arrived within about six minutes. Witnesses told police Javinett had cliff-dived into the water and did not resurface, prompting the 911 call. Beacon firefighters entered the creek first but could not locate him, and state police divers later recovered the body.

Beacon Police Chief Thomas Figlia said the amount of time Javinett had been underwater left no chance of survival. Police also said video from the scene showed the death was a tragic accident, not foul play. The incident unfolded in Dutchess County, but it carries a direct Orange County connection because Javinett lived in Newburgh, where news of the death will hit families who use the Hudson Valley’s rivers, creeks and roadside access points for swimming and jumping during hot weather.

Fishkill Creek has long been treated in Beacon as both an asset and a recreation corridor. The city’s Fishkill Creek Greenway and Heritage Trail Master Plan says the creek corridor is meant to connect scenic, historic and recreational areas in Beacon, and the Greenway Trail Committee was founded in 2010 to help shape that work. Beacon also adopted a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program for its riverfront and Fishkill Creek in 1992 and updated it in 2011, underscoring how central the waterway has been to the city’s planning.

That civic investment has not erased the hazards. American Whitewater describes Fishkill Creek as a waterway that can include polluted conditions, rocky and shallow stretches, rebar and strainers, all of which make unsanctioned jumping and swimming dangerous. NYSDEC materials also show ongoing restoration along the creek, including a 2025 tree-planting effort with 90 native trees and shrubs, a reminder that the corridor is still being managed as a fragile public space as well as a scenic one.

For Orange County readers, the death is a stark reminder that familiar summer spots can turn deadly in seconds, especially where cliffs, dams and fast-moving water create hidden risks.