A rabbi in Ocean County is being sued by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her when she came to him for financial help, then defamed her on a website and in fliers he posted near her children’s school.
New Jersey
Environmental justice law won't bar Newark power plant plan • New Jersey Monitor
The Department of Environmental Protection found a recent environmental justice law that bars polluting projects in overburdened communities will not bar the construction of a controversial backup power plant in Newark’s Ironbound section.
The decision is a boon to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, which for a decade has urged the construction of backup power generation at a wastewater treatment plant to keep the facility running during severe storms, but it is a blow to community advocates who have opposed the project for nearly as long.
“Will some say this is too far? Sure. Will some say it’s not enough? Absolutely,” Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette told reporters Thursday.
The department’s decision clears a path for the agency to issue draft permits for the project in mid-August that could see it win final permits in early 2025. A public comment period would come following the draft permits and is expected to run through the end of September.
Community advocates have opposed plans for a backup generation plant, charging it would further overburden a community already abutting three power plants and questioning officials’ claim that the plant would only operate during severe storms that disrupt electricity powering the existing facility.
Maria Lopez-Nuñez, deputy director of organizing and advocacy at the Ironbound Community Corporation, called the decision a “huge betrayal of environmental justice communities.”
“We know communities like ours are subject to political whims, so it’s very likely that this power plant will be built, and it will be built to run not just during emergencies,” she said.
LaTourette on Thursday reiterated the plant would only operate during severe storms but added officials could run it once a month to ensure it still works. Conditions in the decision bar the facility from selling power back to the grid or using the backup plant to cut costs for routine operations.
“This is not to be a revenue-generating function,” LaTourette said.
The conditions also require the facility to stand up at least 5 megawatts of solar generation and battery storage to jump-start power generation following a blackout.
Activists had called for the backup generation plant to draw all its power from renewable sources, but LaTourette said the review found renewable sources could not feasibly power wastewater treatment during severe storms.
Regulators at the Board of Public Utilities in 2022 rejected renewable energy for a since-abandoned NJ Transit backup power plant in Kearny, finding they would require more space than the site could provide and prove too unreliable to depend on during inclement weather.
The Ironbound project can proceed despite a 2020 environmental justice law that requires state environmental officials to deny applications for polluting projects in historically overburdened community, with officials arguing that parts of the agreement will require the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission to cut emissions from existing equipment.
Among other things, the decision requires the sewerage commission to remove aging boilers and generators and impose new air pollution controls on other existing equipment. The actions would reduce emissions from the plant to below existing levels even after the backup plant is complete, LaTourette said.
“Because of that, there is no disproportionate impact,” the commissioner said. “We have avoided that outcome, which is the purpose of the [environmental justice] law, and therefore the relief available for a compelling public interest needn’t be reached.”
The project will only proceed if the sewerage commission accepts the conditions, and LaTourette indicated it would. And it will require the commission to examine the feasibility of transitioning the plant to hydrogen or another renewable source.
That requirement did little to hearten Lopez-Nuñez, who warned residents would physically obstruct construction at the plant if the commission votes to begin building next year.
“If they vote to move a construction process, they will be met with bodies,” she said. “The community will resist this, so they will have to bulldoze over the residents of the Ironbound Community Corporation and Greater Newark [Conservancy] and all our friends. People have come out in the hundreds to oppose this plant.”
The backup plant is meant to ensure the facility operates during severe storms that could otherwise force it to divert sewage into waterways. Severe flooding and power outages during Hurricane Sandy forced the treatment plant to dump roughly 840 million gallons of raw sewage into the Passaic River and Newark Bay.
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The borough of Lawnside in Camden County will be honored with a historical marker from the New Jersey Historical Commission as part of the state’s Black Heritage Trail.
A ceremony unveiling the marker will take place at 10 a.m. Friday at Lawnside Borough Hall on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Road.
Marsharee Wright, aide to Lawnside Mayor Mary Ann Wardlow and long-time resident, said everyone is thrilled about the marker unveiling.
“We’ve invited the entire community and neighboring towns to come share the celebration with us,” Wright said.
Linda Shockley, president of the Lawnside Historical Society, said it’s “an extreme honor” for the borough to be included in the state’s program, especially as Lawnside is amid a year-long celebration of its centennial.
“It really lifts our profile and hopefully more people will understand and know what Lawnside is about and what it means in the nation,” Shockley said.
Lawnside was one of six sites selected in Camden County in 2024, including “The Point,” a historic Black neighborhood in Haddonfield. Its marker was unveiled last June.
During the ceremony, the borough’s history will be showcased, along with the original documents signed by Gov. A. Harry Moore in 1926, which made way for the borough’s creation.
Though there are many Black enclaves in South Jersey, the borough is the state’s only incorporated antebellum Black community. First known as Free Haven, and later Snow Hill, it was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Peter Mott built a three-floor dwelling in 1844 that was once part of sprawling farmland where he helped slaves escape.
Mott’s house, now owned by the Lawnside Historical Society, serves as an Underground Railroad museum.
See the Roxbury warehouse scouted by ICE as possible deportation site
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were in Roxbury recently apparently scouting a Rt. 46 warehouse as a possible migrant deportation facility.
Federal officials are considering abandoning plans for a controversial immigration detention facility in Roxbury, New Jersey, according to a June 18 report by The New York Times, prompting local leaders and state officials to declare a victory after months of legal and political opposition.
The proposed facility, a warehouse property purchased to serve as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, faced intense criticism from local residents, environmental advocates and elected officials who argued the site was unsuitable for housing detainees.
In a joint statement issued Thursday, Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said the Department of Homeland Security appeared to be backing away from the project following legal challenges that halted development.
“Today the New York Times is reporting that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is backing down on its mass detention center in Roxbury,” the statement said. “That is a big win for public safety, for the township of Roxbury, and for New Jersey.”
According to the Times report, the Roxbury facility is one of seven ICE is planning to dispense with by transferring ownership to other federal agencies or selling them.
Opponents argued the warehouse was designed as a logistics facility and lacked the infrastructure necessary to support a large detention center. They also raised concerns about the potential strain on local water and sewage systems and the impact on environmentally sensitive land surrounding the site.
State officials said they joined Roxbury Township in court to challenge the project, contending that federal plans violated local regulations and posed risks to the community.
“DHS’s plans were always illegal,” the statement said. “The Roxbury warehouse is a logistics center fit for packages, not thousands of people.”
Rep. Rob Menendez said in a statement on Thursday: “We are working to confirm reporting that ICE is abandoning its Roxbury warehouse plans, but if true, this would be big news. From day one, we have fought to stop this facility, bringing together thousands of New Jerseyans in opposition. Now we are on the cusp of an important win for our state.”
The detention center was expected to become part of the federal government’s broader immigration enforcement and detention network. However, the project became a flashpoint in New Jersey, drawing opposition from both local officials and residents concerned about public safety, environmental impacts and the facility’s compatibility with surrounding land uses.
Federal officials have not publicly confirmed whether the property will be sold or formally removed from consideration. The Department of Homeland Security has not commented on the reported change in plans.
Opponents vowed to continue monitoring the situation until the project is officially terminated.
“This isn’t a partisan issue,” the statement said. “We’re grateful for our partnership with the Roxbury community as we keep DHS’s feet to the fire to ensure this facility is never opened.”
New Jersey
NJ rabbi faces lawsuit for sexual assault after giving financial aid | The Jerusalem Post
Avraham Appel, of Jackson, abused his position as a trusted community leader to sexually assault and exploit the woman, an Israeli immigrant who came to him as a single mother struggling to pay bills, according to the lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of Ocean County.
Appel is a prominent rabbi and Rosh Kollel, or head of a Jewish institute for advanced Talmudic study, who is based in Lakewood and Jackson, according to court papers filed January 5.
Appel did not respond to calls to his home and cellphone seeking comment on the lawsuit.
The woman claims she confided in one of her children’s schoolteachers in early 2020 that she was in significant financial distress and having trouble paying for daycare.
The teacher suggested she contact Appel, according to the suit.
In February 2020, Appel arranged to meet with the woman at a local Starbucks.
“During that meeting, Appel presented himself to (the woman) as a rabbi, mentor, advisor, and friend whom (the woman) could trust, confide in, and depend on,” the lawsuit states.
Appel, who had experience in real estate, allegedly offered the woman an opportunity to solicit investments on his behalf and to “draw,” or advance, money against future commissions.
Rabbi issues payments to woman after alleged sexual assault
In June and July 2022, Appel issued six payments to the woman, totaling $20,000 and characterized as advances or loans. He also provided the woman with “financial assistance” so she could buy groceries and pay medical expenses and water bills, according to the suit.
The lawsuit claims most of the money was meant to buy the woman’s silence after he attacked her on June 1, 2022.
The suit alleges Appel visited the woman while she was alone at home and sexually assaulted her as she pleaded for him to stop.
“Appel was abusive and unrelenting. The more (the woman) pled for mercy, the more aggressive Appel became,” the suit alleges.
Before leaving her home, he allegedly ordered her to delete Ring camera footage that showed him arriving.
In the months after the assault, Appel “forced himself upon” the woman and took sexual advantage of her on other occasions, the suit claims.
Appel also allegedly bombarded the woman with demands for sexual acts and sent her a barrage of text and WhatsApp messages containing crude and graphic sexual content.
“I want to squeeze your breasts,” one text allegedly said. In another, he sent the woman a photo of his penis, the suit alleges.
In July 2024, the woman met with another rabbi and shared evidence of the sexual assault and “other incidents involving Appel,” the suit claims.
Woman offered $50,000 for therapy after sexual assault
Appel later contacted his attorney and the two offered the woman $50,000 to cover her future therapy expenses.
The money would be available only if the woman signed a release of any claims related to the assault and agreed to keep all incidents between them confidential, according to the suit.
The woman refused to accept the money or sign the agreement, the suit says.
Appel then launched a campaign to destroy the woman “personally and professionally,” according to the lawsuit.
On December 15, 2025, the woman became aware of a website with her photos that claimed she was “a danger to all Jews,” and warned the public to stay away from her, according to the complaint.
The website disclosed the woman’s address, claimed she stole money, and characterized her as a “thief.”
Moreover, Appel and possibly others posted signs smearing the woman. The signs were posted at public locations throughout the community, including the school her two children attended, the suit alleges.
The lawsuit claims sexual assault, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and conspiracy.
The complaint also alleges Appel breached his duty as a rabbi to conduct himself with loyalty and in good faith.
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