Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/31/18


This photo shows sunset at Kip's Castle Park in Verona.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/30/18


This historic cemetery on White Oak Ridge Road in Short Hills dates back over 200 years.

Monday, January 29, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/29/18


This photo shows Maplewood's historic Durand-Hedden House.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/28/18


This photo shows a view of the Washington Rock flag at South Mountain Reservation in Millburn from Springfield.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/27/18


Despite plans a few years ago for redevelopment, the Orange Memorial Hospital at the Hospital Center at Orange remains abandoned.

Friday, January 26, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/26/18


The Parsil House in Short Hills was purchased a few years ago by the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society and is in the process of being converted into a museum and the society's new headquarters. The house dates back over 200 years and is situated at the corner of Parsonage Hill and White Oak Ridge Roads.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/25/18


This photo shows West Orange's Roosevelt Middle School at night. Orion can be seen in the distance.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/24/18


Orange's Seven Oaks Park neighborhood is filled with historic houses.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/23/18


The Columbia High School clock tower has stood seven stories high above Maplewood and South Orange since the 1920s.

Monday, January 22, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/22/18


This photo shows a nighttime view of the Empire State Building and the Eastern Spur of the New Jersey Turnpike from West Orange.

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/21/18


The steeple of the Community Congregational Church towers above Short Hills.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/20/18


The cold weather has caused the North Pond in Short Hills to freeze.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Save-A-Lot Grocery Store Coming to Orange


ORANGE, N.J.: Residents of the Oranges will soon have a new place in their community to shop for food.

Essex County Place has confirmed that Save-A-Lot will open a new location later this year in the City of Orange Township. The nationwide discount grocery store, which competes with chains such as Price Rite, Aldi, and Lidl, will open its next New Jersey store at 200 Central Avenue between South Center and Ogden Streets. According to a statement from Sabre Real Estate Group, the 15,000 square foot store will be housed in a redeveloped building close to multiple new residential developments that is owned by Equity Assets.

Previously, the structure, which sits near the borders of East Orange and South Orange, contained a car dealership called Route 280 Auto.

Save-A-Lot, which is based in suburban Missouri, opened its first Essex County location a few years ago in the former Key Food space on Springfield Avenue in Newark. Essex County Place reached out to Save-A-Lot last week and earlier this week regarding the upcoming store in Orange but the company has not returned our requests for comment.

Construction began last year at the property, which will include free parking and additional retail spaces along Central Avenue. The store is expected to open in April of this year, according to Sabre.

Photo of the Day 1/19/18


This photo shows Maplewood's Memorial Park with South Mountain Reservation in the distance.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/18/18


This sign stands outside of the former First Presbyterian Church in Orange.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/17/18


This sign at Grove Park in South Orange greets drivers to the Montrose Park neighborhood.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/16/18


This photo shows Founders Park in South Orange, which was known as Memorial Park until recently. The park is situated atop the former South Orange Cemetery.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/15/18


Development is continuing near both of Orange's train stations, with a project being proposed by L+M on Reock Street and the new Harvard Printing Apartments on Central Avenue. Some projects were completed in the last few years, including Linc at Orange Station which can be seen in the background of this photo.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/14/18


This sign reading 'Freight Agent' remains on a door in the 100-year-old Orange Train Station.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/13/18


This photo shows the Maplewood Municipal Building after a recent snowfall.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/12/17


This photo shows a view of Downtown Newark and the city's West Ward from South Orange with Brooklyn in the background.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/11/18


This photo shows the historic First Presbyterian Church of Orange.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/10/18


Construction is underway to bring a 22-unit building to Valley Street in South Orange. The site previously contained a 125-year-old house.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/9/18


This red fox was spotted yesterday in South Orange.

Monday, January 8, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/8/18


This photo shows one of the entrances to the historic Essex County Courthouse in Downtown Newark.

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/7/18


This photo was taken in the heart of Newark's Lower Broadway neighborhood.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/6/17


This photo shows sunrise at Newark Liberty International Airport with the Manhattan and Jersey City skylines in the distance.

Friday, January 5, 2018

New Coffee Shop Planned for Downtown Millburn


MILLBURN, N.J.: A local downtown could soon be home to a new business.

According to a legal notice from the Township of Millburn, a coffee shop and café is being proposed for 315C Millburn Avenue, between the Rahway River and Lackawanna Place, in Downtown Millburn. The business would be operated by The Peccary, LLC, which was incorporated in October, according to State records. The company has applied to the Millburn Planning Board to allow for a change-in-use with variance relief from the zoning ordinance. The Board will hear the proposal during its meeting on Wednesday, January 17th at 7:30pm at the Municipal Building.

The space has been vacant several times before over the last two decades, though it was previously occupied by Bliss Activewear, Uma Stewart Interiors & Lifestyle, Furbish Home, and Toffee Toffee Children's Clothing Boutique.

Photo of the Day 1/5/18


The National Newark Building has been the tallest building in New Jersey's largest city for 87 years.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Winter Shelter is Open in Newark


As the temperature continues to drop, an increasing number of New Jerseyans are spending more of their time indoors. However, although hundreds of thousands of people experiencing poverty call the Garden State home, many of them lack a permanent place to sleep at night.
Homelessness continues to remain a crisis throughout New Jersey, with cities such as Newark, Trenton, and Hoboken being especially impacted due to a lack of resources and services for those in need in many suburban areas.
“You’re not going to get help standing on a corner in Millburn,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told Essex County Place. “You might go to jail.”
Yet, although the number of people experiencing homelessness in municipalities like Newark continues to remain high, the number of shelters, transitional housing options, and permanent housing facilities is quite low. In fact, there are barely any government-run shelters in the entire state, leaving the responsibility of operating such facilities to non-profit and religious organizations. However, many of these types of temporary housing options require residents to leave during the day, are not open to homeless families, and only have a limited number of beds. For instance, the capital city’s only emergency shelter, the Rescue Mission of Trenton, is only open to single men and women and the Cornerstone House in Montclair is closed between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm.
In order to start addressing the issue, the City of Newark partnered with several local organizations and agencies such as Emergency Housing Services, Inc. in order to open a shelter in the Central Ward during the winter months. Baraka joined Dr. Mark Wade, the Director of the Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness, last month to cut the ribbon on the facility in the Fairmount neighborhood at 224 Sussex Avenue at the corner of Duryea Street. The center is housed in a five-story building that was previously occupied by The Sussex House and The Geo Group’s Newark Residential Reentry Services Center. In the first week alone, according to Wade, an average of 80 Newarkers have stayed in the shelter each night.
“This is not singularly the answer for serving the homeless,” he explained, stating that “there’s a lot that needs to be done, but there’s a whole lot more now than was available previously.”
Simone Yarrell, the facility’s Director of Operations, took Baraka, Wade, and members of the media on a tour of the winter shelter before the ribbon cutting. According to City officials, the center will be open daily until March to all individuals and families who are unsheltered, though those who are interested in registering must stop by between 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Yarrell stated that once patrons arrive, their items will be briefly placed in a hot box in order to remove any potential bed bugs or other insects and they will be provided with fresh linens and toiletries.
“We’re not going to turn anybody away,” said Wade.
Although the facility is a distance from Newark Penn Station, where many unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness stay, there are plans to offer free transportation by bus for potential patrons from the Downtown area. Representatives are currently informing unsheltered residents at sites across the city about the shelter, according to Wade, and an officer from the New Jersey Transit Police Department was present during the tour to learn about the facility.
Inside the part of the building that is currently open, there are several rooms with around 100 beds, though there is additional space on the upper floors that can allow for 480 people. In addition, laundry facilities, lockers, showers, and seating areas where breakfast and dinner will be served are provided inside. Case managers will be available to patrons in order to allow them to learn about and be referred to additional services and permanent housing options in the area such as Integrity House.
When asked about the new shelter at a press conference earlier this month, Governor Chris Christie told Essex County Place that he would support other municipalities opening their own facilities as well.
According to Baraka, officials are seeking to open additional centers in Newark that would be open to all individuals and families experiencing homelessness throughout the year, though the City is seeking private-sector assistance regarding funding for such shelters.
“As long as they’re in our community, we’re going to service them,” he explained.

Newark Winter Shelter - 224 Sussex Avenue, Newark, New Jersey

Photo of the Day 1/4/18


This gazebo alongside Toney's Brook sits in the heart of Glen Ridge.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/3/18


This site near the corner of Halsey Street and Branford Place in Downtown Newark could look quite different in the years to come. The former RKO Proctor's Palace Theater, located on the right, was sold in 2016 by the City of Newark for just $5,000 to a development company that is planning to demolish it in order to construct a mixed-use development. The historic 93-year-old structure on the left could be converted into apartments and retail space. However, part of this long-vacant building collapsed last year following a storm, and the status of the project is unknown.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/2/18


The New Jersey Institute of Technology and Claremont Companies are planning to demolish the historic Warren Street Public School in order to construct a mixed-use development on the premises, which could include the school’s Enterprise Development Center.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Photo of the Day 1/1/18


Today marks two years since a fire destroyed much of the St. Mark's Episcopal Church in West Orange, though the congregation has yet to rebuild.