LAKEWOOD, N.J. — A New Jersey minister who has spent over two decades helping people experiencing homelessness says his efforts have been put on hold right before Thanksgiving.

Minister Steven Brigham, president of the nonprofit Destiny’s Bridge, and volunteers provide food and supplies to those in need in Lakewood, including on holidays.

“I would come out here to the town square twice a week and set up tables, and we would give out clothing and food to the poor,” Brigham said.

Lakewood resident Darlene DiDonato told CBS News New York she’s been struggling with homelessness for years, but says Brigham helps ease some of the burden.

“It’s not easy to be out here,” she said.

“I think it’s trying to force the homeless out of the town”

Brigham says when he came out earlier in November, however, there was a sudden change.

“The captain of Lakewood P.D. came up to me and said, ‘Minster Steve, you need a permit to be out here.’ I said, ‘I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I haven’t needed one in the past,’ and he said, ‘Well, you need one now.’ So I was a little upset,” Brigham said. “I think it’s trying to force the homeless out of the town.”

Brigham reached out to an attorney, who has been in touch with the township.

Township asks organizations to fill out contract to use town square

The township now wants all organizations to fill out a “Hold Harmless Agreement” – a contract – in order to use the town square. The mayor says there have been issues.

Lakewood Mayor Raymond Coles said in a statement:

“Lakewood township prides itself on looking out for the welfare of all our residents. We have teams out daily working with the homeless and others in need.  We have a robust housing rehab program and our homeless prevention programs help keep folks in their homes when they are going through tough times or need a hand to keep their homes habitable.  We are the fourth largest town in NJ and have one of the lowest eviction rates in the state. 

“We always work with organizations who wish to help those in need. All we ask is that they help us schedule their efforts to ensure that we know who is using our facilities and help prevent  anyone who may wish to exploit the most vulnerable among us. 

“We also have a responsibility to our residents and employees to make sure they have a safe environment and do not encounter any form of harassment while they go about their day.   

“To paraphrase Dicken’s, this is the time year that want is felt most keenly. Lakewood is committed to providing those in need with a safe place to lay their heads and will work with anyone who seeks to provide help to those who need it.”

The mayor told CBS News New York Brigham is welcome to set up in the meantime, but Brigham is not convinced.

“I want something in writing to make sure that we’re going to be able to come out here and the other organizations are going to be able to come out here … I’ve got a lot of clothes and a lot of blankets that I want to get out here, and they need it,” Brigham said.

He would normally be out on Wednesday, but he says he’s going to hold off until he gets legal input. He hopes to return next week.

NEW JERSEY — For the past four years, Kim Chiocchi has had what many would consider an unusual morning routine at her home along Caulfield Avenue in Deptford Township, New Jersey.

“I could sit on my front porch and say, ‘C’mon Fred it’s breakfast time!’ He’ll come moseying down the driveway,” Chiocchi said.

Fred is a wild turkey that’s amassed quite a following. She says peanuts are his favorite, along with bird seed.

“I enjoy seeing him every day,” she said. “I really do.”

But Fred has been known to stop traffic along Clements Bridge Road.

“I could be inside my house and I’ll hear ‘beep beep’ and I’m like, ‘Uh oh, Fred’s in the street,’” Chiocchi said.

“He’s like the town mascot,” said Bill Lombardi of Deptford. “But he does bother the cars. He pecks the sides of the cars.”

Across the street at DHY Motorsports, numerous instances of the turkey causing trouble have been caught on camera.

In one clip you can see him chasing down a customer in the parking lot.

“He pecks at your car and just goes after you. And if you run, he runs,” said Kristin Coryell who works at DHY Motorsports.

Also – they call him Tom over there.

“I know he has a couple other names but Tom the turkey just seems to fit,” she said. “We love him but he’s a little bit of a jerk.”

While his antics have gotten some attention, his human companions hope he sticks around for a while, and definitely hope he doesn’t end up as a Thanksgiving meal.

“When he’s feeling extra frisky, a lot of people like to say, ‘Oh, I’m going to put him on my dinner table and eat him.’ But we don’t like talk like that,” Coryell said.

Deptford does have a local ordinance that prohibits feeding wildlife in parks and on township property.

Turkeys can get aggressive, especially during mating season.

Years ago in South Jersey, wild turkeys were once obsolete. Now, due to wildlife restoration efforts, there are 20,000 wild turkeys throughout the state.

“NJDEP Fish & Wildlife advises against supplemental feeding of wildlife because it is not necessary to sustain wildlife populations,” said the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in a statement. “People should keep in mind that deer, turkey, and other wildlife are wild animals and have adapted to cope to harsh weather conditions including deep snow, cold temperatures, and high winds. Feeding wild animals can also make them dependent on humans, ultimately making them less likely to survive. Local ordinances may make the feeding of wildlife unlawful as well.”

———-

* Get Eyewitness News Delivered

* More New Jersey news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube

Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News

Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.

2

A few days before the election, on a crisp fall morning, I walked through the Oak View section of Bloomfield, an area that’s considered “more Republican” in a town that’s a Democratic stronghold.

Something felt off. Everywhere I looked, there were Trump signs.

This neighborhood, which typically displayed only a few signs for the Republican candidate, was now dotted with flags, banners, and a sea of yard signs showing support for him. Even signs for Democratic mayoral candidate Jenny Mundell were sharing space with Trump’s.

That morning, just days before the election, felt different. The area had the vibe of a battleground state.

While I didn’t think Trump would win Bloomfield, or even New Jersey, the volume of his supporters here felt like a signal of a close race in the state, and a larger red wave nationwide.

And it wasn’t just Bloomfield. I was seeing this across North Jersey.

In towns where Trump signs had been rare, I noticed multiple, with neighbors sometimes in direct opposition to each other, another indication of a battleground mentality.

Since election night, and the narrow five-point difference in votes here, there’s been talk about New Jersey possibly becoming a swing state. While it could be an overreaction to the closeness of this year’s results, I can’t help but hope it’s true.

For years, New Jersey politics have felt like a foregone conclusion. If I vote Democrat, they’ll win, even without my vote; if I vote Republican, they’ll lose, even with my vote. It’s hard to get excited about an election when you already know the outcome.

The state hasn’t sent a Republican to federal office in decades, the last being George H.W. Bush in 1988. However, we have elected Republican governors during that time.

Signs may not vote, but they certainly indicate voter intentions. The growing presence of Trump signs across North Jersey suggested something. Either these towns were becoming Trump territory, or his supporters were becoming more vocal.

Based on the results, it seems to be a mix of both.

I dug deeper into this through a breakdown of the vote from northjersey.com, to see if my suspicions about towns flipping from Biden in 2020 to Trump in 2024 were correct.

And it’s true Trump gained ground here, 33 towns or about 19% of North Jersey flipped red according to the article.

As expected, Kamala Harris won Bloomfield by a large margin, but Trump did improve his standing slightly. The rest of Essex County stayed blue also as expected but three towns Nutley, West Caldwell, North Caldwell flipped back to Trump.

Morris County though did flipped back after voting for President Biden. I was surprised to see this a little since Vice President Harris did gain ground with richer voters which this county has a lot of.

Five towns there flipped, including Denville, Mount Olive, and Mine Hill.

Other results felt very unexpected, especially in Passaic County, where the entire county flipped along with four of its towns; Little Falls, Hawthorne, Passaic and Clifton.

The latter two, which didn’t feel like they’d vote Republican, shocked me. I don’t remember any signs in these areas.

Across the river in Bergen County, though, it felt different. Twenty one towns there changed their votes from Biden to Trump. In these towns, Trump flags were a common sight. One street in Hasbrouck Heights specifically reminded me of my time in another swing state, Pennsylvania. There Trump flags may have outnumbered the American Flag.

These areas will be important in a competitive swing New Jersey, Republicans will have to hold onto them and the demographic of voters who live there if they want to see the state vote red.

Sussex County on the other hand is solid Trump country, he won every town by generally big margins. I don’t spend much time up there, mostly just hiking. So unless I stumbled upon a “Bears for Trump” sign at High Point, I’m not really qualified to weigh in on the local political climate.

The results show that at least for Donald Trump, North Jersey has become more red.

Two things stood out to me in the results, many of the towns that flipped are in the lower parts of the income bracket for their respective counties. Garfield for example is the 68th richest out of 70 Bergen County municipalities and Mount Olive is the 31st out of the 39 in Morris County. This could be a signal of the continued loss of working class voters for Democrats.

But, many of these towns still kept their Democratic local leaders. A trend which was clear based on the number of houses that displayed both Trump and Democrat signs, including the Little Falls house with the big Trump inflatable. So the question going forward will be, can anyone other than Donald Trump replicate this success?

If Republicans want to keep the dream of a swing state New Jersey alive they’ll have to build on the success of Trump in the cities and working class towns that voted more red this year.

It does appear some candidates, like gubernatorial hopeful Jack Ciattarelli, are doing this with visits to places like Newark- but will it be enough? Or will the results or lack thereof from the Trump administration next year dictate how the state votes moving forward?

I believe Republicans winning next year’s election and taking control of the governor’s office will be the signal of the state becoming more competitive. But still I don’t think we’ll see a Republican presidential candidate carry the state anytime soon.

While the idea of a more contentious political landscape may be daunting, I can’t help but feel optimistic. New Jersey’s political future may feel more unknown but at least if it becomes a swing state, our votes will all actually matter.