Mold Remediation in Newark, NJ

A house in Newark that sold for $850,000 tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Newark area in the past week.

In total, 18 residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $518,998. The average price per square foot ended up at $265.

The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Sep. 23 even if the property may have been sold earlier.

10. $550K, single-family house at 478 S. 17th Street

A sale has been finalized for the detached house at 478 S. 17th Street in Newark. The price was $550,000 and the new owners took over the house in August. The house was built in 2004 and the living area totals 2,516 square feet. The price per square foot ended up at $219. The deal was finalized on Aug. 26.

9. $550K, single-family home at 492 S. 19th Street

The 2,133 square-foot detached house at 492 S. 19th Street, Newark, has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in August and the total purchase price was $550,000, $258 per square foot. The house was built in 1900. The deal was finalized on Aug. 21.

8. $605K, single-family residence at 26 Vincent Street

The property at 26 Vincent Street in Newark has new owners. The price was $605,000. The house was built in 1880 and has a living area of 1,496 square feet. The price per square foot is $404. The deal was finalized on Aug. 26.

7. $610K, single-family residence at 47 Aldine Street

The sale of the single-family house at 47 Aldine Street, Newark, has been finalized. The price was $610,000, and the house changed hands in August. The house was built in 1932 and has a living area of 2,080 square feet. The price per square foot was $293. The deal was finalized on Aug. 22.

6. $625K, single-family house at 23-25 Oakland Terrace

The property at 23-25 Oakland Terrace in Newark has new owners. The price was $625,000. The house was built in 1909 and has a living area of 2,572 square feet. The price per square foot is $243. The deal was finalized on Aug. 21.

5. $625K, single-family home at 40 Silver Street

The 2,546 square-foot single-family residence at 40 Silver Street in Newark has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in August and the total purchase price was $625,000, $245 per square foot. The house was built in 1925. The deal was finalized on Aug. 22.

4. $630K, single-family home at 289 17th Ave.

The sale of the single family residence at 289 17th Ave. in Newark has been finalized. The price was $630,000, and the new owners took over the house in August. The house was built in 2006 and has a living area of 3,180 square feet. The price per square foot was $198. The deal was finalized on Aug. 27.

3. $690K, single-family residence at 249 S. 10th Street

The 2,560 square-foot single-family home at 249 S. 10th Street in Newark has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in August and the total purchase price was $690,000, $270 per square foot. The house was built in 2007. The deal was finalized on Aug. 27.

2. $800K, single-family house at 93 Komorn Street

The property at 93 Komorn Street in Newark has new owners. The price was $800,000. The house was built in 1910 and has a living area of 3,225 square feet. The price per square foot is $248. The deal was finalized on Aug. 23.

1. $850K, single-family house at 51 Grafton Ave.

The sale of the single-family home at 51 Grafton Ave., Newark, has been finalized. The price was $850,000, and the new owners took over the house in August. The house was built in 2006 and has a living area of 3,065 square feet. The price per square foot was $277. The deal was finalized on Aug. 21.

Real Estate Newswire is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to generate analysis of data from Propmix, an aggregator of national real-estate data.

It may take several days to a week to clear the backlog resulting from the port workers' strike, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's port director said Friday.

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) union dock workers and port operators of the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) reached a tentative deal Thursday immediately ending a three-day strike, which began at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, that shut down shipping on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast.

Here's what to know.

What's the current status of the NY and NJ ports?

Thousands of containers filled with products waiting to be imported into New York and New Jersey ports will begin to be unloaded starting at 7 p.m. Friday and continue into the weekend, says Port Authority of New York and New Jersey port director Bethann Rooney.

As of early Friday morning, 24 ships are at anchor waiting to get into the port, Rooney said, which consists of 19 container vessels, four car ships and one specialty vessel. The container vessels are holding 35,000 import containers filled with consumer goods used on a daily basis and currently 11 of them are being brought into the port to be unloaded and reloaded with exports.

After the containers are unloaded, two terminals will then be opened over the weekend for trucks to be able to deliver the products to their respective warehouses and distribution centers, according to Rooney, and the remaining terminals will open Monday at 6 a.m.

"In order for the restart to be successful and efficient, we do need the warehousing and distribution center community, the trucking community, to utilize all available hours that the terminal operators make their gates available to the rest of the supply chain ecosystem," Rooney said.

About 1,000 refrigerated containers carrying food, medical equipment, flowers and alcohol have remained in the terminal since the shutdown Monday, but no spoilage is expected as they've all remained plugged in.

What consumers should know:The port strike is over, but are delivery delays still coming?

How long will it take to get NY and NJ ports back up and running?

Of the 35,000 import containers needing to be unloaded, Rooney says about 21,000 of them were on hand when the terminals closed Monday, which is less than a weeks worth of normal activity.

"I do expect that by this time next week, we will have serviced all of the vessels that were delayed and that cargo will be flowing into the economy," according to Rooney.

More specifically, Rooney said the Port Authority is expecting to return to some sense of normalcy "in just a couple of days" as Norfolk Southern Railways and CSX Transportation have already prepared for the restart by filling the ports with several 100,000 feet of railcars.

Port strike ends:Workers and operators reach deal

What's the economic impact for the NY and NJ ports?

Rooney says the Port Authority's economist estimated the New York and New Jersey area, which covers 19 counties, to take a hit of between $250-300 million per day as a result of the strike's port closure.

Which ports in NY and NJ were affected during the strike?

Six ports were closed in New York and New Jersey due to the ILA strike. Here's which ones were affected:

Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network’s NY-Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@gannett.com.

A firm hired to replace pipes allegedly ran a scam on the city. But Newark's program remains a "national model" of success, officials say.

Patch Staff

NEWARK, NJ — A company hired to replace lead pipes in Newark has been accused of running a scam on the city, federal authorities announced this week. But Newark’s program remains a “national model” for success, officials say.

Several years ago, the City of Newark hired JAS Group Enterprise Inc. to replace lead pipes as part of its battle against water contamination. Instead, the company allegedly left some of them in the ground – and collected their payment anyway, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Two people at the company were arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. See Related: Company Ripped Off Newark, Left Lead Pipes In Ground: Feds

The work in question was part of Newark’s Lead Service Line Replacement program, prosecutors said.

Five years ago, Newark made national headlines when it confronted a lead water crisis. At one point, the lead levels at some points in the city’s drinking water had risen to 47 parts per billion at some sites, more than three times the federal threshold. It prompted an outcry from residents – and a lawsuit from advocates.

Find out what's happening in Newarkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Newark eventually identified two sources of the contamination. One was the way the city treated its water, which allowed excess corrosion to take place in aging pipes. The city responded by rolling out a new method of treating its water, which is also sold to several nearby towns and cities in Essex County.

The second issue wasn’t as quick of a fix, however.

Newark officials traced some of the contamination to lead-lined service pipes leading to thousands of local homes. The pipes – which connect local homes and businesses to the local water supply – can potentially leach contamination as water passes through them. A portion of the pipes may be privately owned, complicating efforts to replace them.

Despite the challenges and scope of the project, Newark has since replaced more than 20,000 lead service pipes, a massive effort that got a big thumbs up from officials including Vice President Kamala Harris.

But earlier this year, a new speedbump emerged.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Shawn LaTourette, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), gave some background about the issue in a joint statement on Friday. They wrote:

“In January 2024, Newark and the NJDEP were advised of concerns that, in some cases, third parties hired to replace lead service lines in Newark may not have complied with all requirements for full line replacement (example: from the water meter inside a home to the water main in the street). In response, Newark and the NJDEP initiated an audit to identify affected properties and commence inspections to verify compliance with lead service line replacement requirements to ensure the continued safety of all residents.

“The audit, which began in January 2024, included both a targeted and a randomized data assessment resulting in over 700 excavations.

“The targeted audit included 403 service line excavations. Of these, 33 properties were found to contain some remaining lead components, which were replaced. Consistent with Newark’s post-replacement protocol, residents were provided point-of-use filters for lead and flushing guidance by the city. The NJDEP is evaluating the randomized audit data set.

“Importantly, the NJDEP has confirmed that Newark’s corrosion control treatment has been optimized to protect residents whose water may come into contact with plumbing that may still contain lead components. Newark has also demonstrated compliance with federal requirements. At this time, there is no need for Newark residents to take any additional precautions with respect to their drinking water.

“Both the City of Newark and NJDEP’s leadership acted on these allegations as soon as we learned of them. We are proud that these investigations have led to arrests of individuals in connection with this matter, and justice will be done. We are also grateful to Newark residents who cooperated with the investigation, by allowing these excavations on their property.

“Despite the indictment of these parties, the city and NJDEP remain confident in the success of the lead service line replacement program, which has led to 23,190 replacements, and stands as a national model for reducing the risks of lead exposure.”

NEWS CONFERENCE

Newark city officials held a news conference about the arrests on Thursday afternoon. Watch the video below, or view it online here.

Baraka said that the city was continually fixing any issues it came across during the investigation “on the spot,” adding that the corrosion control efforts – which are separate from the pipe replacement – added an extra layer of protection.

“So there was no time that the residents in the city were in any danger whatsoever from having lead leech into their lines,” Baraka said.

“I know everybody was asking us questions in the beginning, but we could not speak as freely as we are speaking now, because there was an investigation ongoing,” the mayor said. “So I'm glad – by the grace of God – that we've come to this point, that it is, in fact, over, and that we have responded the way we responded.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page.

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NEW JERSEY — They’re going back to work – for now.

A massive dockworker strike that shut down cargo ports across the East Coast and the Gulf Coast this week has been suspended, with workers agreeing to return to their jobs on Friday as negotiations continue.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has been trying to hammer out a new work contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents terminal operators and shipping lines. The major sticking points have included salaries and automation at the port, which workers claim will put their jobs in jeopardy.

Both sides have been posting updates on their websites. Read the ILA’s posts here, and the USMX’s posts here.

Dockworkers went on strike Tuesday, including those at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, whose combined terminals and facilities make it the largest port on the East Coast and the third largest in the nation. See Related: Here’s The Plan If A Strike Shuts Down The East Coast's Busiest Port

Find out what's happening in Newarkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Experts warned that a prolonged strike would have a huge impact on many local businesses that depend on the port to keep their shelves stocked, with items such as car parts, fruits and veggies, and imported beer expected to become scarce. See Related: Dockworker Strike Starts; NJ Shoppers Will Pay The Price, Experts Say

Reports of shoppers engaging in “panic buying” quickly followed, although many of the items that disappeared from shelves – including toilet paper – are produced domestically and shipped via rail. See Related: 'Don’t Panic': What NJ Consumers Need To Know About Dockworkers Strike

Thankfully, a turning point in negotiations has apparently been reached, with both sides releasing a joint statement on Thursday:

“The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues. Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume.”

According to an update from the Port Authority of NY/NJ, terminal operators were expected have mechanics on site Friday morning to bring the terminal back to an operational status. Vessel activity will resume Friday night, with information on truck gates to follow.

See a breakdown of the New York-New Jersey port industry’s economic impact in 2023 here.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey held virtual media briefing on Friday to outline the operational restart of cargo activity (watch the video below, or view it online here).

BIDEN, HARRIS, TRUMP COMMENT ON STRIKE

President Joe Biden – who refused to invoke the federal Taft-Hartley Act to break the strike – said the decision to reopen ports is “patriotic” and shows that “collective bargaining works.”

“[The] tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract,” Biden said. “I congratulate the dockworkers from the ILA, who deserve a strong contract after sacrificing so much to keep our ports open during the pandemic. And I applaud the port operators and carriers who are members of the US Maritime Alliance for working hard and putting a strong offer on the table.”

Vice President Kamala Harris said she “applauds all involved for their efforts.”

“As I have said, this is about fairness – and our economy works best when workers share in record profits,” Harris said. “Dockworkers deserve a fair share for their hard work getting essential goods out to communities across America.”

Former president Donald Trump has likewise spoken in support of the dockworkers, although he has also blamed “massive inflation” for throwing gasoline on the fire.

“American workers should be able to negotiate for better wages, especially since the shipping companies are mostly foreign flag vessels, including the largest consortium ONE,” Trump said earlier this week, referring to the Singapore-based shipping company.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.