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Neighbors
Family Of 8 Loses 'Everything' In Bayonne Fire; Fundraiser Started Family Of 8 Loses 'Everything' In Bayonne Fire; Fundraiser Started
Family Of 8 Loses 'Everything' In Bayonne Fire; Fundraiser Started A GoFundMe campaign has been started for a large family left homeless after a fire in Bayonne Thursday.  No one was injured in the two-alarm blaze, but the multifamily home on Broadway was so severely damaged it will have to be demolished, authorities said. A total of 19 people have been displaced.  Among those are the eight members of a single family -- a woman who shared a home with her five grandchildren, two sons and a "baby on the way," wrote the organizer, who said the grandma is a home attendant working for the organizer's mother.  "They lost everything, all their fur…

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by Paul Milo
News
NYC Now Suing Newark Over Homeless Relocation Program: Report NYC Now Suing Newark Over Homeless Relocation Program: Report
NYC Now Suing Newark Over Homeless Relocation Program: Report The city of New York has filed a lawsuit against Newark, claiming that Newark cannot prohibit New York from relocating homeless families there, NJ.com reported Tuesday.  New York's counter-suit was filed in response to a lawsuit filed by Newark against New York over the controversial relocation program,  through which New York places homeless families in cities across the country and provides landlords a year's rent up front. Newark has received 1,200 families under the program in the last two years.  New York City began looking for housing outside its own borders to relieve …

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by Paul Milo
News
NYC Agrees To Temporarily Halt Homeless Relocation To Newark NYC Agrees To Temporarily Halt Homeless Relocation To Newark
NYC Agrees To Temporarily Halt Homeless Relocation To Newark Officials from New York City and Newark spent the day Monday hammering out an agreement over the Special One Time Assistance (SOTA) program, which relocates homeless families in New York to homes in Newark and other communities across the country.  Newark last week filed a lawsuit seeking to end the transfer of homeless families from New York under the SOTA program, and have also asked a judge to halt the relocation of any more families until the lawsuit is decided.  Meeting at the federal courthouse in Newark Monday with Newark officials, attorneys for New York City agreed to a t…

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by Paul Milo
News
Elizabeth Joining Newark In Lawsuit Over NYC Homeless Program: Report Elizabeth Joining Newark In Lawsuit Over NYC Homeless Program: Report
Elizabeth Joining Newark In Lawsuit Over NYC Homeless Program: Report The city of Elizabeth plans to join neighboring Newark in a lawsuit against a New York City program that relocates homeless people in New Jersey, NY1 reported Friday.  Mayor Christian Bollwage of Elizabeth sharply criticized his counterpart in New York, Bill de Blasio, for the Special One Time Assistance Program (SOTA), which he said "takes the people in the most challenging aspect of their lives and ships them out of town."  Under the program, New York has placed homeless people in housing located in communities across the United States, including in Union and Essex counties. The…

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by Paul Milo
News
Serious Problems Found With Program That Sends NYC Homeless To NJ: Report Serious Problems Found With Program That Sends NYC Homeless To NJ: Report
Serious Problems Found With Program That Sends NYC Homeless To NJ: Report An investigative agency found that a controversial program which relocates homeless people from New York City to communities across the U.S., including several in Union and Essex counties, often places them in substandard housing, WABC 7 reported.  The controversial Special One Time Assistance program, known as SOTA, has already spurred legislation in Newark as well as a federal lawsuit. Newark officials have also found that SOTA clients ended up in decrepit housing, including in homes without heat.  "Newark is concerned about the living conditions of perhaps one thousand or more …

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by Paul Milo
Neighbors
Fitness Guru Seeks 'Elves' To Help Bring Christmas To North Jersey Homeless Fitness Guru Seeks 'Elves' To Help Bring Christmas To North Jersey Homeless
Fitness Guru Seeks 'Elves' To Help Bring Christmas To North Jersey Homeless Leah Fairchild had just given Christmas bags to a dozen homeless people on the streets of Manhattan when she began to cry. She wanted to do more. Since that Christmas five years ago, she has. “Each year I vow to do it bigger and better,” said Fairchild, who, with the help of volunteers raised nearly $3,500 last year, visited seven shelters in Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex counties and distributed 350 gift bags to those living on the street. Fairchild, a single mom of three who owns and operates Train on Purpose (TOP) Hybrid Fitness Studio in Lyndhurst, launched her “Christmas Miracle …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Cities In Essex Demand Notice When NYC Sends Homeless: Report Cities In Essex Demand Notice When NYC Sends Homeless: Report
Cities In Essex Demand Notice When NYC Sends Homeless: Report At least four cities in Essex County have passed or plan to pass ordinances requiring neighboring New York to notify them when sending homeless people to their communities under a controversial relocation program, CBS 2 News reported.  A yearlong CBS investigation found that New York City may be forcing those living in homeless shelters there to move into homes in New Jersey cities, including Newark. The city pays landlords in New Jersey a year's rent for those who are relocated.  But CBS found evidence of problems at the apartments the relocated families were sent to, including a…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Homeless Man, 34, Found Dead In Ridgefield Homeless Man, 34, Found Dead In Ridgefield
Homeless Man, 34, Found Dead In Ridgefield An autopsy was scheduled Saturday to determine what killed a homeless man whose body was found in Ridgefield. The 34-year-old victim's body was found Friday along the railroad tracks near Linden Avenue beneath the Route 46 bridge, authorities said. They suspect he may have fallen and hit his head. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Major Crimes Unit Homicide Squad was investigating along with Ridgefield police. The county Medical Examiner collected the body for the autopsy. CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS

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by Jerry DeMarco
Neighbors
After 24 Years Apart, NJ Transit Police Help Reunite Dad With Family After 24 Years Apart, NJ Transit Police Help Reunite Dad With Family
After 24 Years Apart, NJ Transit Police Help Reunite Dad With Family A homeless man who hadn't seen his daughters in 24 years -- and who had never met some of his grandchildren -- was reunited with them with help from a concerned NJ Transit police officer, the agency said.  Transit police in the Secaucus Junction station found 61-year-old Jose Lopez, who is homeless, Aug. 6. The former Monmouth County resident had traveled from Miami to meet with his long-lost children.  Officers in Secaucus sent him on to Newark Penn Stration, where Crisis Outreach Officer Sean Pfeifer decided to help locate Lopez's offspring. The agency's outreach program is…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Man Found Dead Near Homeless Campsite In Dover Man Found Dead Near Homeless Campsite In Dover
Man Found Dead Near Homeless Campsite In Dover Authorities are investigating after a man was found dead in Dover Thursday, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said.  The person, whose identity was not released, was found in a wooded area near the end of West Clinton Street. The cause and manner were pending the results of an autopsy.  The body was found "in close proximity" to what the prosecutor's office said was an encampment of homeless people.  Anyone with information on the death is encouraged to call the Major Crimes Unit of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office at 973-285-6200, or the Dover Police Depa…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Police Ticketing Drivers In Newark Who Give Cash To Panhandlers Police Ticketing Drivers In Newark Who Give Cash To Panhandlers
Police Ticketing Drivers In Newark Who Give Cash To Panhandlers Citing concerns over safety and a need to help the homeless obtain services, Newark’s Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose has ordered increased enforcement of traffic laws meant to discourage drivers from giving cash to panhandlers. The agency also stressed that Newark Hope One, a mobile police unit, will regularly visit areas where panhandlers congregate in order to offer services like addiction recovery and housing assistance. Hope One has aided more than 120 people so far this year, Ambrose said. “I’m pleased Hope One Newark is making an impact in meeting the needs of those add…

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by Paul Milo
News
Body Found On Hawthorne Bench Body Found On Hawthorne Bench
Body Found On Hawthorne Bench Police were investigating a body of someone believed to have been homeless found on a Hawthorne bench Saturday morning. The body was found in front of the Goffle Road Dunkin Donuts around 7:15 a.m. Paramedics from The Valley Hospital officially pronounced the individual dead shortly after 7:30 a.m. The Hawthorne Police Department is handling the investigation. Boyd A. Loving also contributed to this story.

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by Cecilia Levine