New Jersey

NJ affordable housing deadline: Here’s what your town owes, and you might be eligible

Published

1 year ago

January 31, 2025

Press Room

NJ affordable housing deadline: Here’s what your town owes, and you might be eligible

Four-minute read

With legal challenges to New Jersey’s affordable housing law denied, Monmouth and Ocean County towns reached a deadline Friday to opt into a program that spells out their affordable housing obligations for the next decade.

As the clock ticked on Thursday, about two-thirds of towns at the Shore had agreed to participate, even as some planned to challenge the number of affordable units determined by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

“It’s good to see that the vast majority of New Jersey municipalities, many of whom supported the law’s passage, are moving forward,” said Jag Davies, a spokesman for the Fair Share Housing Center, an advocacy group.

Friday’s deadline is part of the fourth round of the Mount Laurel doctrine that was set into motion last March, when Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law spelling out towns’ affordable housing obligations for the next decade.

See a full list of what the state says each town must allow to be built at the bottom of this story.

Towns aren’t required to participate, but those that don’t adopt a plan risk being sued by builders and advocates, leaving them vulnerable to a court order mandating them to clear the way for higher-density projects.

The new rules are landing as policymakers at the Shore try to navigate competing interests: residents are pushing back against overdevelopment, all while seeing the price of housing soar.

A home is considered unaffordable if its payment takes up more than 30% of a household’s income. As of last August, a Monmouth County household with a median income would pay 53.9% for a median-priced home, while an Ocean County household would spend 58%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

“The third round was kind of chaotic,” said Craig Gianetti, an attorney with Day Pitney in Parsippany, who co-leads the firms’ real estate, environmental and land use practice. “From 2018 to today, towns had to do a lot (to catch up with affordable housing obligations), and I think they are still kind of, for lack of a better term, licking their wounds politically.”

“The thought of having to go through this process again, where they feel like they just completed the third round, is probably daunting for them,” he said.

The new law sets out to streamline what has been an uneven rollout of the Mount Laurel doctrine, the state’s constitutional mandate that requires towns to provide their fair share of affordable housing.

Under state law, municipalities are required to set aside 20% of housing units for those with moderate and low incomes — up to $72,830 for an individual and $130,054 for a family of four in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

The state recalculates municipal obligations every 10 years, looking at factors such as job growth, existing affordability and the growth of low- and moderate-income households. The new formula is set to last until 2035.

Some two dozen New Jersey towns, including Holmdel and Wall, filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the rollout, but state Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy ruled against them, leaving municipalities with a Jan. 31 deadline: Accept the state’s obligation, come up with their own and hope the state will approve it, or take their chances and risk being sued by builders or advocates.

Most Monmouth and Ocean County towns have approved resolutions and agreed to participate in the program, although some are planning to challenge the state’s formula.

Toms River, for example, required by the state to provide 670 affordable units, adopted a resolution saying it owes at most 114 new units, and possibly none at all.

Jackson, meanwhile, is faced with an obligation of 954 units in the next round. The council planned to vote Thursday on a resolution that would support 750 units.

“We’re trying to do everything the right way, we just feel now it’s becoming a little unfair,” Jackson Mayor Michael Reina said.

The state could sign off on towns’ alternate calculations. Or it could contest them by taking it to the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program, a seven-member panel appointed by the chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, which would decide.

Opponents have until Feb. 28 to contest the municipalities’ calculations. And towns have until June 30 to adopt an affordable housing plan.

Davies from the Fair Share Housing Center said as of Thursday morning, 354 of the state’s 564 municipalities had adopted resolutions agreeing to participate in the affordable housing program, and 75% accepted the obligations calculated by the state.

“New Jersey municipalities, many of whom supported the law’s passage, are moving forward,” Davies said.

Michael L. Diamond is a business writer for the Asbury Park Press. He has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry since 1999. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.

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New Jersey

Nightmare at NY Penn as train fire halts NJ Transit, Amtrak service for hours

Published

9 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Nightmare at NY Penn as train fire halts NJ Transit, Amtrak service for hours

New Jersey and New York City commuters are facing extensive delays in and out of New York Penn Station Friday, with intensifying ripple effects, after an Amtrak work train car on one of the hub’s tracks caught fire.

The FDNY says it was called to the Midtown scene on 31st Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, around 1:30 a.m. Nearly 100 personnel responded. Five civilians were evaluated at the scene by EMS, officials say.

It’s not clear what sparked the fire involving Amtrak’s contractor maintenance vehicles in one of the Hudson River Tunnels. It was knocked down well before 6 a.m., but service on New Jersey Transit, Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road and more was expected to see heavy impacts well into the morning rush, with Hudson River trains operating at reduced capacity. Amtrak said it didn’t expect to lift its suspension until at least noon.

Travel Advisory: Due to unforeseen track and signal maintenance resulting from a now extinguished fire in the New York area, all services traveling south of New York (NYP) are temporarily suspended. This suspension is anticipated to be in place until noon at a minimum. Services…
— Amtrak Northeast (@AmtrakNECAlerts) May 29, 2026
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New Jersey Transit and LIRR also announced delays and cancellations. Cross-honoring and diversion programs were in effect as the situation developed. Complete LIRR service at NY Penn had resumed by around 7 a.m., Friday said, though equipment issues were causing cancellations. Get the latest transit information here.

Video from outside Penn Station showed smoke billowing in the pre-dawn hours, as emergency personnel stood by with stretchers awaiting any potential victims.

Amtrak is investigating the cause of the fire.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause,” the agency’s latest announcement said, pledging to provide updates as new information becomes available.

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New Jersey

Violence reported at Delaney Hall in N.J. Calls to shut it down are growing

Published

21 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

Violence reported at Delaney Hall in N.J. Calls to shut it down are growing

How are detainees at Delaney Hall being treated?

A statement issued by DHS said detainees receive comprehensive medical care and all are treated well.

“They are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries. Illegal aliens also have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Certified dieticians evaluate meals,” the department wrote.

The release accused Sherrill, Booker and U.S. Sen Andy Kim, as well as U.S. Reps. Rob Menendez, Nellie Pou, LaMonica McIver, Frank Pallone and Analilia Majia, of continuing “to peddle falsehoods about ICE facilities,” and “spreading smears about ICE law enforcement and the Delaney Hall ICE facility in New Jersey.”

Sinha said the assertion that individuals being arrested and taken to Delaney Hall are dangerous criminals is false.

“This is an administration that has repeatedly lied to us about what’s going on in immigration enforcement and immigration detention facilities,” Sinha said.

He added while Sherrill does not have the legal authority to enter Delaney Hall unannounced, that fact that she was denied entry is concerning.

“The federal government has denied her repeatedly, and it makes you question, ‘What is the federal government trying to hide?’” he asked. “They have no allegiance to any rule of law or semblance of democracy; they’re trying to rewrite the Constitution for people who are noncitizens.”

On Thursday, Sherrill issued a statement saying the New Jersey Department of Health attempted to conduct a inspection of Delaney Hall, but officials were only allowed to inspect only a limited part of the facility.

“We will review and share the department’s findings from the limited portion it was allowed to inspect, and we will continue to pursue all appropriate avenues for demanding transparency and ensuring humane conditions for the individuals being held at the facility,” she said in the statement. “As I’ve said repeatedly, refusing to provide full access raises serious questions about what ICE is trying to hide from public view.”

Sinha said a hunger strike among those inside the facility is continuing because they are being given spoiled food and inadequate medical care in deplorable conditions.

“People shouldn’t have to starve themselves to make their dignity known; people shouldn’t have to starve themselves to have their rights protected, but that’s what’s happening here,” he said.

Reports of escalating violence

Late Thursday afternoon there were reports of violence escalating within Delaney Hall.

Nedia Morsy, the director of Make the Road New Jersey, an immigration advocacy group, issued a statement saying multiple sources within the facility reported ICE agents attacking detainees and causing serious injuries.

“Right now there are ICE agents inside of Delaney Hall violently beating the hunger strikers,” Morsy said in the statement. “Someone will be killed if no one intervenes and shuts this down. These masked agents are acting as if they’re above the law. This is a modern-day concentration camp, and history will not forgive silence in this moment. We need to shut down Delaney Hall and free everyone inside.”

Resistencia en Accion, another immigrant rights group, also released a statement, calling for violence against detainees to end.

“We express our utmost disgust with the violence perpetrated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents today, May 28. Reports at approximately 1:40 p.m. reveal that ICE agents attacked the hunger strikers inside with batons and tear gas. Family members outside received calls from inside, confirming that there were people screaming, and according to their loved ones inside, unconscious detainees and blood on surfaces. ICE is the sole responsible actor for the escalation that has led to several wounded people inside and outside this week,” the statement reads.

WHYY News reached out to DHS late Thursday seeking comment about the reports of violence at Delaney Hall. A written statement was emailed to WHYY that said ICE agents had responded to a physical altercation involving detainees.

“In accordance with established ICE policies and their training, staff used the minimum amount of force to safely deescalate the situation,” DHS wrote. “Following the incident, all affected detainees were promptly evaluated by on-site medical personnel and were cleared with no serious injuries.”

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