9 Homeless People Found Living Under Highway Overpass In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — Newark police recently relocated nine homeless people found living under the highway overpass at I-280 and Route 21, authorities announced Friday.

City police and workers with the New Jersey Department of Transportation recently moved in to relocate the people living under the highways and clean the area of discarded personal items and residual debris, authorities stated in a Friday news release.

According to Newark city officials, the Newark Health Department’s Homeless Coalition made multiple visits to the overpass for the past three months to “assess the needs” of the homeless residents.

A Newark police spokesperson told Patch that the nine homeless individuals were “largely transient.”

About five of the homeless residents accepted offers of shelter or housing services and the others “moved on,” the spokesperson said.

“I commend both the commanders and officers of the 2nd and 3rd precincts for their commitment to assisting homeless individuals move to shelter prior to the onset of inclement weather,” Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said. “The safety of those relocated as well as people traveling near the underpass is immensely improved as a result of this successful quality of life-enhancing project.”

“With the approach of very cold weather, it is important to help people who are homeless to stop living on the street and obtain safe and warm shelter,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said. “I commend our Homeless Coalition and the Newark Police Division for making this happen.”

NEWARK'S 'WAR AGAINST THE POOR'

In July, city officials received some flak from local civil rights groups after police launched a crackdown against homeless and other low-income panhandlers at 10 high-traffic areas in the city.

Labeling the homeless residents “eyesores,” city officials kicked off a police crackdown against “aggressive” panhandling activity at locations that include McCarter Highway, Penn Station, the Speedway Avenue and South Orange Avenue ramps near Interstate 280, and the intersections of Central Avenue and 1st Street, Chancellor Avenue and Fayban Place, and Clinton Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

During the July 12 crackdown, officers arrested 12 panhandlers, handed out two quality of life summonses and instructed five suspected solicitors to “get out of traffic," authorities said.

• See related article: Newark’s War Against The Poor: Cops Crack Down On Panhandlers, Beggers

‘MOST HOMELESS IN NEW JERSEY’

There are about 1,723 homeless individuals living in Essex County – the most in New Jersey – according to the 2015 New Jersey Point-In-Time Count.

According to the report, over the past five years, the homeless population in Essex County has risen 14.5 percent. About 22.5 percent were children under the age of 18, and more than 80 percent of the respondents identified themselves as black or African-American.

The most common reason for homelessness was being “asked to leave a shared residence” (21.1 percent), followed by “eviction” (17.7 percent) and “released from prison or jail” (11.6 percent).

• See related article: Essex County Has The Most Homeless Residents In New Jersey
• See related article: Hudson County Homeless Moved To Newark, Motel Declared Unsanitary
• See related article: Life Through The Lens Of Homeless NJ Photographers: GALLERY

A BRIGHTER FUTURE?

In September, Newark officials held a groundbreaking event for an $8 million homeless housing facility dubbed “A Better Life."

When complete, the two-story, 24,063-square foot building at 93-101 Fourteenth Avenue will have 24 efficiency studio apartments, communal spaces designed to foster engagement and a unit designated for a superintendent who will be “on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” city officials stated in a news release.

The facility will be New Jersey’s first HUD “safe haven” model, according to project developer New Community Corporation.

• See related article: Newark Will Get $8M ‘Safe Haven’ For Chronically Homeless, New Jersey’s ‘First’

Photos: City of Newark

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com