Judge Temporarily Stops Scotch Plains Public Storage From Tossing Locals' Treasured Items

SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ — A daughter's wedding dress, ashes of a loved one, photos were among the items being tossed into the trash after Hurricane Ida flooded a Public Storage location in Scotch Plains.

Scotch Plains resident Mary Jean Murphy is one of the many locals who say they have been locked out of their storage unit.

"I just want to save my china, crystal, my deceased mom's belongings, and my husband's mom's paintings," said Murphy on Wednesday. "Just let us have our stuff."

After Murphy filed a lawsuit, a judge ordered on Wednesday a temporary injunction of her two units.

"It's a start," said Murphy.

Now Murphy has to give the injunction papers to Public Storage on Route 22, hire a remediation company and then she can go into her unit to retrieve her items.

"I am beyond thrilled...gives me hope," said Murphy of the judgment.

However, there are still 200 other units that are being affected.

The first floor of the storage unit was flooded during the storm on Sept. 1 leaving about four feet of water. It wasn't until Sept. 20 when Murphy says she was allowed to just take a peek at her unit.

"I could see there were things I could still remediate. My daughter's wedding dress was at the top. We had China, crystal," said Murphy. "I mourn the loss of all my photos. But you never know since some of these things were in Tupperware and bins. These were all important memories in there and it's terrible."

Murphy said she was told she would be given access to her own storage unit at a later date to access her belongings. She had three appointments which were all canceled.

It wasn't until Thursday, Oct. 7 when she received a letter from management saying that they hired a third-party company to test the levels of mold and bacteria. The findings found the levels too high and the letter said management was going to deny total access to the units and basement and throw everything out.

Murphy was frantic and began calling management and everyone she knows including government officials and the Scotch Plains Police.

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick said residents in Westfield and Scotch Plains both reached out to his office for help.

Bramnick said he had his office in Trenton reach out to the consumer affairs and the Attorney General's office to look into the matter.

"I want to help the residents. I don't represent Scotch Plains, but people from Westfield are also affected, and I am trying to get an answer from consumer affairs as to what their rights are," said Bramnick.

Public Storage management had begun throwing belongings in dumpsters on Monday where Murphy said no one was wearing a mask or any protective gear.

She says it wasn't until she started videotaping that the workers came back out with respirators on and suits.

Due to the holiday weekend, things were delayed and Murphy was eventually able to hire an attorney on Tuesday and filed a motion in court to stop the company from throwing out the belongings.

Other locals have also spoken out about lost belongings including Garry Pastore who stored his tools there and he says he can’t work without them.

"They are taking my livelihood. For me to even file a claim with the insurance company, I have to have pictures of the damage," Pastore told newyork.cbslocal.com.

Cecelia Ephraim also spoke with CBSand said she stored the last letter her father wrote to her before he passed away in a waterproof and fireproof box, so she knows it survived.

"It’s about something I can’t replace," Ephraim said.

Public Storage did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

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