I think it is very sad that NYMA is closing. I think the Alumnis should be ashamed of themselves for not contributing to the endowment for the school.
I feel very bad especially for the Juniors who have attending the school and will miss being Seniors next year.
THe Board of Trustees should step down and allow other people to run the school, but they should not close the school. Closing the school, even in hopes of regrouping is just a death sentence to the school. The alumni should be ashamed of themselves. Where are you, Donald Trump with your millions when they are needed?!!

Okay folks. Are you listenning yet, about the fact that we were alerted about this change? And how vunerable this property is? Are the Town and Village Board seeing the truthes of where this Town and Vilage are going?
It is time for a really hearyfelt fight. I am in. And always have been.
Let's get going...are your ready?

This is very bad news for the businesses around NYMA. The parents and students spent a lot of money in Cornwall and Cornwall on Hudson. It's a real shame.

I feel badly for the hard working teachers who were dedicated to NYMA and to the students who were trying to better themselves. The reality is that NYMA failed to tap their Alumni effectively. The school has a deep history but somehow the board and upper management were not able to convey a meaningful message to their noteworthy alumni base. There is a considerable amount of debt outstanding against NYMA and eventually the lender will require some type of action (asset sale). Donald Trump probably has his reasons for not donating money to NYMA and most likely it has to do with the way the board and those in charge managed the overall image of NYMA. No one wants to donate money to a failed cause and unfortunately, those in charge at NYMA apparently did not present anything contrary to this. I just hope the property doesn?t fall into unwanted hands; that would really change the overall character of Cornwall.

beatuiful grounds can be turned to some good. An artist community would be a nice idea. The nyma grounds looked so run down for so long, change is good.

We moved to Cornwall because the politicians sold out our towns for KJ Votes, watch this, it is the scenario that KJ loves to come in under a third party and gobble up the large tracts of land and Poof! Mini-KJ in your backyard till it all connects!

What bad news! My only hope now is that the town is not so foolish as to allow this property to be sold to a developer who will only put in more and more homes so that our schools become totally overcrowded.

I'm wondering how the school amassed such debt. Tuition to NYMA is not cheap. Has enrollment plummeted? Did they mismanage their funds? Did they borrow money to make improvements to the school and then not get the return they were expecting?

Is there any possibility we could convince Orange Cty Comm Coll. to abandon the Newburgh project and turn NYMA into a main campus. Or a satalite at the least?

Talk about a revenue generator if that happened.

I am an alumni there and I grew up there....it is the economy's fault that so many of us alumni have not been able to go through with our pledges. I take offense that we should feel ashamed for not stepping up. there are way to many factors that have caused such a loss like this to occur. Yes enrollment is down and yes tuition is high but those are only some of the reasons why i feel this is happening. I love NYMA very much, that's all I knew until I went to college.

I'm glad to see that people are interested in NYMA, hopefully for more than its' property potential. As alumni, we have all been hit hard by economic times, and giving up the money we had to a poorly run business is never a sound financial decision. The post above by Jennifer McMillen speaks for many people. As the daughter of Les McMillen, my coach and algebra teacher 20 years ago, we used to play with her, put her in the equipment cart and push her around the gym until she collapsed with laughter and coach yelled at us to get back to practice. The faculty and students are family, this was a home for a lot of us that didn't have one or a home away from home for those that did. This is not just property or income. There are many reasons the school is now in this situation, but at this moment it's just blame and excuses. It is my understanding that the Board of Trustees will be stepping aside, and I along with a good number of alumni, are stepping up to take leadership positions and reorganize and revitalize the school. We will go to local businesses for reciprocal support, we will look to our alumni for donations of service and time, not just dollars and cents. We will cut the operational budget and improve the facilities and programs and increase the corps size. When the school adopts new leadership, the alumni will follow and we will re-open as New York Military Academy. It might take a year, but it will be done.

@Doreen Syed,
It must be great to critize the Alumni, you fail to look at a few things, like the reccession, a couple of legal cases (resolved (not sure?) and possible other issues. I went to NYMA from 82-83' where my last name was Cox, but to be clear that the School does not revolve around Alumni donations but does revolve around tuition and fees! If the trustees have to go then so be it.

I am a NYMA Alum and a former Cornwall VOlunteer Ambulance Corps member. I rode in Cornwall in the '70s and consider that town the "home" I left when headed off to college.

New York Military Academy is more than just a school for kids. It is a monument to alumni and veterans who have served this country in war, public service and commerce. It's halls are filled with names of people who have paid the ultimate price for freedom, it's campus is adorned with testament to the dedication of individuals and classes to the promise "I will pass this way but once. If there is any good that I can do, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."

While I think it's important to keep adding qualified alums to the Regiment of Graduates, it's also important to maintain the living history that is NYMA that honors the work and dedication of students and faculty for over a century. I don't doubt for a minute that there are guys who died in Korea and Viet Nam who knew, at a minimum, that they would be remembered somewhere, by people who respect the effort and sacrifice involved in putting on a uniform.

The NYMA experience is a part of our family history. Having liked the place or not, by finishing the ordeal that is NYMA each of us had earned the right to share stories and experiences with our children and grand children that will help them understand what shaped us as teenagers, and why we can relate to them as they pass through the gauntlet that is High School.

And NYMA is a landmark of Cornwall as well. Changing the purpose of the property would change the very character of the community. Losing the corps, and their families would forever alter this area.

As cadets, our lives are intertwined and enriched with the beauty and might of the flowing Hudson valley, tempered by chilly first mess formations where our ears would sting and our bellies would rumble. Hustling between buildings for classes and being responsible for finding way to entertain ourselves, be responsible for ourselves, to learn how to train younger kids in the art and science of being a cadet.. each facet of our lives was cleaved by the NYMA experience.

To know NYMA, I really believe, is to know us. And those who don't visit and share their NYMA experience with family, they are depriving them of an insight into your character that is uniquely their own...paid for not just by their parents tuition checks, but by their sweat as you marched in parades, their fatigue as they readied the barracks for inspection, and by their tears as you lost an open weekend because you had too many demerits.

Some graduates have been more lucky in "life's lottery" than others, either through hard work, careful preparation, or being in the right place at the right time. Maybe to them it doesn't make business sense to throw money at NYMA, as a school they consider it a loser, and it's contributions to their ultimate success are blurred by the decades that have passed by. But NYMA is a part of their being as well, and needs to continue as a living history, not a collection of blurry pictures from a long lost yearbook.

This really isn't a school that is closing. It's a piece of each of us, more so than any public school, that we are responsible for preserving. And it's a standing tribute to our Silent Platoon, our friends who have left us, but not without leaving a mark on our lives and on that special spot. We owe it to them and their brothers before them, to honor their sacrifice and keep their memory alive.

Losing NYMA means losing my anchor in Cornwall, and I guess that's what would sadden me the most. Ours has been a bumpy relationship - Cornwall and NYMA. But speaking as someone who boarded at NYMA but lived as a member of the Cornwall community, we really need each other. I can't imagine Cornwall without NYMA. As far as the community is concerned, I can't think of anything better to put on that site.

If by some miracle the school remains open, you should take another look at sending your children there. Especially if there is special consideration given to Cornwall residents. I had the benefit of a blended NYMA and Cornwall experience, and that magical combination of NYMA discipline and Cornwall's deep sense of community provided me with a firm foundation to live a great life.

Thank you Cornwall! Thank you NYMA!

This is a shame. 121 years of history and hard work being wasted away by poor management. A private school just like a college or a business has a duty to remain solvent and profitable. The economy cannot be blamed for everything in this world. It is not like this was a huge shock, everyone at NYMA knew this could very well happen. That alone is proof enough that the wrong decisions have been made for many years, Last I checked there were more than a few businesses that have made it through this recession.

The board needs to be fired yesterday. A new board (as suggested by several alumni here) should be comprised of savvy business people and past students who live in or near the community.

I hope this gets resolved as quick as possible for the sake of the students and more importantly the staff who have dedicated their time and careers to making this institution the historic landmark that it truly is.