Free Republic

A failing New Jersey shopping center could soon be demolished and replaced with hundreds of apartments under a controversial redevelopment plan. The near-vacant Raritan Mall has long been described by locals as an ‘eyesore’ after years of empty storefronts and declining business. Developers now want to tear down the aging complex and replace it with a five-story project containing 276 apartments, according to plans submitted by Raritan Mall Urban Renewal. The proposal would also include 42 affordable housing units and ground-floor retail space. A second retail area, within an existing structure that formerly housed a bank, would include parking and...

Somewhere between the Jordanian border and the Green Line, we'll call it Kiryat M'uyamim, night before last, IDF/Police officers rousted out two families at 3 a.m. Their belongings were cast out and tractors and bulldozers destroyed the small hovels that they had built with their own hands. There was no advance warning of this. Neighbors took the unfortunate families in, and the next day everyone went to work. I was in Kiryat M'uyamim last night. At dark, a cement mixer descended the hill towards Kiryat M'uyamim, along with a procession of several small cars. My wife, young son and I...