{"id":26228,"date":"2026-06-10T09:59:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=26228"},"modified":"2026-06-10T10:07:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:07:58","slug":"brick-votes-to-purchase-lot-that-was-subject-to-antisemitic-litigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2026\/06\/brick-votes-to-purchase-lot-that-was-subject-to-antisemitic-litigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Brick Votes to Purchase Lot That Was Subject to ‘Antisemitic’ Litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A home proposed where lilinois Avenue, New Jersey Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue meet in Brick, NJ. (Credit: Planning Document\/Google Maps)<\/p><\/div>\n

A \u201cseverely\u201d undersized Brick lot that was cleared for development after its owners claimed antisemitism drove a zoning denial<\/a> has been approved for purchase by the township council.<\/p>\n

The township\u2019s zoning board, in February 2025, rejected the application of Esther Cohen and Naomi Elkins, co-owners of the property \u2013 which does not currently have a postal address \u2013 to develop the triangular-shaped piece of land where Illinois Avenue, New Jersey Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue come together. The three streets meet in the middle of a neighborhood between Lanes Mill and Sally Ike roads in the Herbertsville section, with the proposed single-family home having frontage on both Illinois and Pennsylvania avenues. The lot measures 4,812 square feet, however the township\u2019s zoning ordinance requires a minimum of 9,000 square feet to build a home on a corner lot in the R7.5 residential zone, where the property is located.<\/p>\n

Cohen and Elkins sued after the decision<\/a> was rendered by the board, arguing the board \u201ccaved to public opinion\u201d due to the ultra-Orthodox Jewish status of the developers. Elkins, pursuant to an unrelated case, is now being held in a psychiatric institution after drowning her daughters<\/a>, ages 1 and 3, in a Lakewood bathtub after stabbing one of them in June 2024. It was not clear how her status affected the real estate transaction; officials referred to the person with whom they were working with on the sale as \u201che\u201d at a council meeting Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Superior Court Judge Francis Hodgson ordered Nov. 12, 2025 that the zoning board\u2019s denial of the proposal to build a home on the lot \u2013 described as \u201cseverely undersized\u201d by the township planner \u2013 be overturned<\/a>, stating in his decision that the board\u2019s \u201cdenial of this application with variances is arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable\u201d for reasons set forth in an earlier oral decision issued from the bench. The audio of the oral decision was not accessible in the court system\u2019s database.<\/p>\n

The complaint made allegations of anti-Semitism on the part of neighbors who objected to the lot\u2019s development at the zoning board meeting. The owners of the property, according to the complaint, were wearing traditional Orthodox-style clothing at the meeting. Several questions from neighbors \u201cwere perceived by Ms. Elkin\u2019s husband as anti-Semitic,\u201d the complaint stated. Example of such questions, the complaint said, include: \u201cWhat kind of clients are they going to attract to the area,\u201d and further questions as to whether or not the owners intended to live in the home themselves or use it as a rental property.<\/p>\n

Hodgson ruled that the board\u2019s denial be overturned, and that the owners did not have to return to the board for a new hearing. Instead, they would be able to proceed building on the property as long as they complied with \u201cany conditions agreed to at the zoning board hearing.\u201d The judge also said the developers should meet with the township\u2019s engineering and planning professionals to discuss a proposed driveway for \u201csafety purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A home proposed where lilinois Avenue, New Jersey Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue meet in Brick, NJ. (Credit: Planning Document\/Google Maps)<\/p><\/div>\n

The purchase of the lot by the township appeared on an agenda for Tuesday night\u2019s council meeting via two items: a resolution authorizing a budget amendment to fund the purchase, and a bond ordinance to appropriate the funds. The council unanimously voted to approve each measure, however Republican members of the council stated they were not made aware of the purchase until just prior to the start of the meeting. They also questioned the agreed-upon price of $125,000, considering the property was sold for $20,000 prior to the matter being brought to the zoning board. Officials said, however, that the $20,000 price was the result of a private sale when it was thought the lot was unable to be developed, whereas an appraiser determined the present value. The township is obligated by law to purchase the lot for the appraised value.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was taken off guard with this even being on the agenda, because we were unaware that the possibility of even purchasing this property existed, and we\u2019re finding out about it the night of a council meeting,\u201d said Councilman Gregory Cohen. \u201cThis is not transparent government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agenda that included the purchase details was published to the township\u2019s website Friday, June 5. Mayor Lisa Crate said the Brick Open Space Savers Committee previously reviewed the property for preservation and determined it met their \u201crigorous\u201d criteria.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was significant public request that this be acquired,\u201d said Business Administrator Joanne Bergin. \u201cThey did not want to see residential [built] there, so it is part and parcel with many other requests. The difference here is that you have to have a willing seller, and that seller has to be willing to sell it to a municipality, which is limited to a finite amount as to what they can spend on a property. We can\u2019t negotiate \u2013 we have to go on appraised value.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bond appropriation for $118,750, to support the total sale price of $125,000, is subject to a public hearing and second vote before final adoption. That is scheduled for June 23, 2026. The bond ordinance leaves open the possibility that the township could receive state or county funding to defray some of the acquisition costs.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A \u201cseverely\u201d undersized Brick lot that was cleared for development after its owners claimed antisemitism drove a zoning denial has been approved for purchase by the township council. The township\u2019s zoning board, in February 2025, rejected the application of Esther Cohen and Naomi Elkins, co-owners of the property \u2013 which does not currently have a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,4484,27,5468,5238,760,5469],"class_list":["post-26228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-featured","tag-herbertsville","tag-illinois-avenue","tag-naomi-elkins","tag-sally-ike-road","tag-undersized-lot"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/herb_home_lot.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-6P2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26228"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26233,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26228\/revisions\/26233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}