With seven city managers in 10 years and a drastic reduction in the police force just as New York magazine dubbed it the “murder capital of New York,” Newburgh needed a catalyst to help it turn around.

Enter the Greater Newburgh Partnership, a coalition of private-sector partners focused on safety and economic development in the city of 25,000, chaired by Allan Atzrott, president and CEO of St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital. He saw the group's ambitious plans, set into motion in October 2011, as congruent with community health in the broad sense of the term.

“I've always thought that if you're going to be a leader, you have to lead. You can't do it by pontificating about what should be done if you're not going to get your hands dirty,” says Atzrott, 64, a finalist for the Community Leadership Award. “You can't be healthy without a place to live.”

Safety-related measures that the partnership has or will take include improved lighting, installation of security cameras and hiring of private security forces to help the police.

On the housing side, the partnership connected with the Ford Foundation, a longtime social investor in community redevelopment, and toured a section of Camden, N.J., that had been stabilized thanks to an alliance of healthcare and higher education institutions, Atzrott says. “Plagiarism instead of reinventing the wheel is always beneficial,” he says.

Through those meetings, the group became familiar with the concept of land banking, through which foreclosures are expedited and abandoned properties brought back to life. Since the New York state Legislature adopted legislation to allow such land banking, the partnership, which now numbers 26 businesses, has accumulated 42 foreclosed properties in an area bounded by St. Luke's, Mount St. Mary College and the local community college.

The partnership has gained volunteers from the local building trades to rehabilitate or demolish structures and remove asbestos, and Atzrott says their motivations were only partially altruistic. “They stepped up to the plate and volunteered their time,” he says. “They want to work with us in the future.”

“Allan's a force,” says Tricia Haggerty Wenz, founder and executive director of Safe Harbors of the Hudson and a founding board member of the Greater Newburgh Partnership. “He's a formidable, tenacious man who has brought so much passion and energy to spearhead change. He's not somebody who talks about change and writes studies. He's action-oriented.”

But Atzrott doesn't try to do it all himself, Wenz adds. “Allan's really smart about getting the right people at the table and recognizing everybody's strength, and how we can all work together to make things happen.”

Fred Visconti, owner of Visconti Limousine for the past 35 years, says that Atzrott is aggressive in approaching businesses to get involved but in a quiet, almost cordial way. “He's not afraid to walk up to you, introduce himself and say, 'I need you to get involved in the hospital, and I need your money,' ” Visconti says. When Atzrott first approached him about the Greater Newburgh Partnership, Visconti had his doubts about its potential effectiveness. But Atzrott showed “he has this tenacity to get things done. He finds the way around an obstacle. He's a true leader in that sense.”