State Will Not Be Closing Manalapan Manor; Twp. 'Disappointed'

MANALAPAN, NJ — The state of New Jersey announced this week it has no authority to close down a controversial group home in Manalapan, despite pleas from local officials to shutter the facility, Manlapan Manor, formerly known as Marianne Manor.

“The Township is yet again disappointed by the Department of Community Affair's response," said a spokesman for Manalapan Township on Friday afternoon.

The state Department of Community Affairs sent Manalapan Deputy Mayor Susan Cohen a letter on Feb. 19, saying the state could not prohibit residents from walking out of the facility, located on Rt. 33.

This comes after a Newark man who lived at the group home was hit and killed by a car on Rt. 33 on Feb. 12. The state also said that, after hearing Cohen's complaints, they did two surprise inspections, on Feb. 14 and Feb. 18, and found "the facility is compliant."

"Residents of Manalapan Manor, a free-standing Residential Health Care Facility (RHCF), are free to go and come as they choose," wrote Bernard Raywood, Chief Bureau of Rooming and Boarding House Standards at the state Department of Community Affairs. "The Manalapan Manor Licensee is prohibited from restricting the resident's access to the community and any resources available to other residents of the community."

Raywood also said the state could not prohibit a private group home from operating.

"(We) do not restrict the licensee from accepting individuals with the ability to privately pay for their residence," he wrote to Cohen.

For several years now, Cohen and local Manalapan residents have been begging the state to shut down Manalapan Manor.

"Residents of Manalapan should not have to fear driving down Route 33 and killing someone or driving into a panhandler," Cohen said. "Unfortunately, our fears have come true."

In this letter Cohen sent to the Gov. Phil Murphy in November 2019, she referred to Manalapan Manor as "atrocious ... deplorable."

The Rt. 33 adult mental health home is infested with bed bugs, cockroaches, has sewage backing up in the bathtubs and — tragically — has seen several residents die, either from being hit by cars on Rt. 33, heroin overdoses or suicide, said Cohen.

Residents in the privately-run home are frequently left unsupervised and allowed to roam Rt. 33 on foot, where they have been struck by cars, according to Cohen. Between 2014 and 2016, three people were hit and killed by cars while attempting to cross that intersection.

"The residents of that facility frequently walk to the businesses located at that intersection," Manalapan Police Captain Thomas Barstow told Patch back in 2016. "This is not the first person from that facility that has been struck by a vehicle in that area."

Manalapan Manor is owned by Mahir Patel. It is licensed by the state Dept. of Community Affairs to operate as a mental health facility. Manalapan Manor is also about to launch an ambitious renovation.

When Patch called Manalapan Manor last Friday, the receptionist first hung up on us. We called back and were told "the owners will make a statement when they feel like it."

Ongoing Patch coverage of Manalapan/Marianne Manor:

Man Killed On Rt. 33 Reignites Debate Over Manalapan Manor (Feb. 2020)

Manalapan Mayor To Gov: Shut Mental Health Facility Down (Nov. 2019)

Dangerous Rt. 33 Intersection Claims 3rd Life In Two Years (Oct. 2016)