Mike Hayes

3 weeks ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

The city of Summit, New Jersey is the latest Garden State municipality to introduce an ordinance that bans sleeping and camping in public spaces – a maneuver that many homeless service providers and advocates have criticized as effectively criminalizing homelessness. A wave of similar measures have been adopted in the state following a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a law in Oregon banning homeless people from using blankets, pillows and cardboard boxes for shelter and protection.

3 weeks ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

Dozens of New Jersey municipalities will be allowed to lower their affordable housing targets for the next 10 years after reaching agreements, according to court records and advocates lobbying for more low-priced homes in the Garden State. Attorneys representing towns around New Jersey have been in negotiations with the nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center since early March over the next round of state-mandated affordable housing development, which will run from 2025 to 2035.

4 weeks ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

A large 2.5 acre lot in the heart of Newark, New Jersey’s burgeoning Ironbound section is poised to become home to 1,400 new apartments in the next few years. The proposal by Brooklyn-based developers Chess Builders LLC is awaiting approval from city officials and outlines to build two 26-floor and two 30-floor towers on the lot, which has stood vacant for 20 years. They also plan to construct an adjacent parking garage that could fit more than 600 vehicles.

1 month ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

New Jersey fire officials say the state is entering a difficult time as peak wildfire season starts this month amid a number of stark climate-related challenges. The Garden State has already seen a 266% increase in wildfires this year compared to 2024, according to top fire and environmental officials who said the state has remained in a drought since last fall.

1 month ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

Twenty years ago, a prominent New Jersey real estate family’s plan to build 136 houses in the forest atop a mountain in West Orange, New Jersey was shot down by town officials who deemed it a public safety risk. Now, the town has given an initial greenlight to the same family for a new proposal: to build a larger development of almost 500 apartments on the same land.