Mike Hayes

1 month ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

Jersey City councilmembers will vote Wednesday on a law that would ban landlords from using sophisticated rent algorithm software that renters’ advocates say uses artificial intelligence to drive up apartment prices. If adopted, the measure would be the first of its kind in the Garden State. Councilmember James Solomon said he introduced the ordinance in part because a bill for a statewide ban on the use of artificial intelligence has languished in the Legislature for the past eight months.

1 month ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

Residents of West Orange, New Jersey and other surrounding towns who have been fighting a wealthy developer are now in a battle over competing environmental reviews. The real estate company Garden Homes, run by the billionaire Wilf family, has long wanted to build housing on a 120-acre, heavily forested section of the Watchung Mountains. It's one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land in the area and the company’s latest proposal is a 496-unit multibuilding apartment complex there.

1 month ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

Dozens of New Jersey towns are seeking to extend a June 30 deadline to adopt plans showing how they’re going to meet state requirements to generate new affordable housing in their communities. So far, the panel of judges reviewing the requests in state court has rejected the towns’ appeals for extra time. According to housing advocates, about 80 of the state’s 564 municipalities have sought 90-day extensions to finalize their plans.

1 month ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes

City councilmembers in Summit, New Jersey, may be backing down from a controversial proposal to ban homeless encampments in public spaces, which critics say would have allowed police to jail homeless people. The council in Summit, one of New Jersey’s wealthiest communities, last month introduced an ordinance stating that anyone sleeping or camping on public land could be jailed for up to 90 days and fined $2,000. The proposal set off a firestorm in the community.

2 months ago | gothamist.com | Mike Hayes |Christopher Werth

Officials in Summit, New Jersey, voted Tuesday to delay their vote on a controversial ordinance that would allow the city’s police department to jail homeless people who camp in public spaces. The measure faced widespread outcry from residents at a packed public meeting that carried over into the early hours of Wednesday.