A maximum contribution to Senator Joe Cryan’s re-election campaign was made by the landlord of the housing complex where four people drowned in their apartment as flood waters swelled the Elizabeth River during Hurricane Ida.
The victims were identified as a family of three and their 33-year-old neighbor..
Rosa Espinal, 72, her husband Jose Torres, 71, the couple’s son Jose Torres, 38, and Shakia Garrett, a 33-year-old neighbor, died in the torrential downpours that sent floodwater surging through streets like rivers
Christine Foglio, the wife of former Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, is the CEO of Community Investment Strategies (CIS), which owns the former Oakwood Plaza apartments.
CIS was given millions of dollars in taxpayer money to acquire properties and charges heavily-subsidized rents on more than 3,000 affordable rental units throughout the state.
In 2009, the Oakwood Plaza property was purchased by CIS with the City of Elizabeth and Union County Improvement Authority providing substantial funding support along with a DCA subsidy of $20 million.
CIS demolished all six existing buildings and rebuilt 300 units in low-rise town-over-flat, featuring 56 one-bedroom, 180 two-bedroom, and 64 three-bedroom apartments.
Residents whose earnings fall below 50% the area median, pay 30% of their income towards rent which is subsidized by the HUD Section 8 program.
The total $79.5 million investment was financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity, federal block grants allocated to city and county HOME/RCA funds, Housing Authority of the City of
Elizabeth Replacement Housing Factor (RHF) grants, Federal Home Loan Bank money, Union County Improvement Authority (UCIA) bonds, New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) permanent financing, Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program (NRTC) , New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) Economic Redevelopment and Growth program (ERG) tax credit equity, and deferred developer fees.
They were residents of the Oakwood Plaza apartment complex, on Irvington Avenue.
No criminal charges or other penalty resulted from the four deaths at the housing complex, which is now called Oaks at Westminster, Parkers View, and Parkers Walk.
The Elizabeth residents lived in garden level apartments at the rear of the building next to the river, which rose more than eight feet at its height late Wednesday, September 1, 2021.
The apartment complex is located directly across the street from the municipal fire department headquarters, but teams of first-responders were not able to commence rescue efforts immediately due to about four feet of water that flooded the emergency facility.
The entire complex was deemed uninhabitable by authorities, displacing about 600 people from their homes, which experienced extreme flooding and damage due to the remnants of former Hurricane Ida.
