Pastor brings his Black History Month teach-in series to a close for the year
PLEASANTVILLE — A local pastor brought his Black History Month teach-ins to a close by discussing strategies for combating residential segregation and inequality and creating a better future.
Mount Zion Baptist Church hosted its fourth and final Black History Month symposium last Wednesday. The event further explored the series’ overarching theme of applying the lessons of Black history to reduce racial inequality and segregation in modern-day America. It centered on a discussion among Mount Zion senior pastor Willie Francois III and several academics who specialized in topics studying history, law and race.
Read More
Rutgers Releases Report on Housing Gaps Warning of Displacement in East Orange, Orange, and Other Communities
EAST ORANGE, NJ - With the erection of large market rate buildings with high rents, and homes with large price tags for sale, report says housing options in East Orange and Orange are becoming increasingly unaffordable.
Under the guidance of David Troutt, the founding director of the Rutgers Center on Law in Metropolitan Equity (CLiME), and Katharine Nelson, Senior Research Fellow, a report was published exploring the issues of housing in the Oranges and beyond titled, "Housing Gaps in Cities of Color: Affordability Trends in Newark's Inner-Ring Suburbs of Irvington, Orange and East Orange."
Read More
Newark Announces String of Development Projects to Carry Out Affordable Housing Initiative
NEWARK, NJ — More affordable housing projects are planned in Newark to meet the demand of residents after the city this week announced the first seven projects to be built under “Affordable Newark,” a new housing initiative targeted to families earning $32,000 and less.
Affordable housing has been a key focus for Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s administration after he laid out his plans earlier this year to build 3,000 new homes across the city’s five wards by 2026 and to create or preserve at least 6,000 affordable housing units for its low-income residents.
Read More
Housing prices were already too high for many Newark residents. Then the investors came.
Standing on Fairmont Avenue, Vivian Fraser can look in any direction and see a house her organization renovated.
One of those homes is 231 Fairmont, a two-family house in Newark’s West Ward that sold earlier this year for $240,000 — well below market value, even though it has four bedrooms, stone countertops and upgraded appliances. A large picture window looks east from the living room toward downtown.
Fraser’s organization, the Urban League of Essex County, paid $118,000 for the house and another $280,000 to fix it up. The group did similar projects on the two houses north of 231 and four others on the block. It is set to develop 28 houses a few streets over next year as part of a larger mixed-use project.
Read More
