FIRST REPORT: As of today, Tent City is officially closed. After 
about 7 years, hundreds upon hundreds of incidents later, as well as many protests later, the controversial homeless encampment off of Cedarbridge Avenue which was once home to over 100 homeless people, has officially come to an end.
In a letter submitted to the Township a short time ago and obtained by TLS, the attorney working on behalf of Tent City states that a mutual agreement has been made and recognizes today, June 26 2014 as the official closure of the homeless encampment.
“Based on the discussions that I just had with Sean Collier of my office as well as with Mike McNiel and Mike Dicicco, this will confirm that Lowenstein Sandler agrees that today, June 26, 2014, is the Closure Date,” Attorney Jeff Wild wrote in the letter to the Township.
The Closure Date was defined as the date there are no longer Eligible Persons remaining in the camp whom have been offered housing.
This morning, Alex Libman, one of the main voices in the camp who refused to leave despite being offered housing multiple times, forced authorities to drag him out of the camp and arrest him – the way he reportedly said he wished to leave.
For years, thousands of residents have voiced their opposition to the camp to officials, which prompted many meetings, and which resulted in an unofficial task force being set up.
Deputy and then Mayor Akerman and Committeeman Lichtenstein, spent hundreds of hours working and coordinating with Ocean County officials and with STEPS to ensure that the homeless received housing, while taking proper actions to stunt the growth of the illegal encampment situated on Township property.
The strong stance and accomplishments by the two Township officials – though criticized by supporters of Tent City – were welcomed by nearly all of Lakewood’s residents.
“What they have done is truly remarkable,” a resident who resides in the vicinity of the encampment told TLS. “This was a tremendous undertaking and something which could have had a negative affect on them politically speaking, but they nevertheless undertook it and there’s no question in my mind this is something welcomed by the entire Lakewood.”
Deputy Mayor Albert Akerman welcomed the closing, but acknowledged it came with a tremendous amount of work.
“For more than a year, Committeeman Lichtenstein and I, along with the rest of the township committee, have been working tirelessly to close down tent city by placing those who were living there in permanent housing,” Akerman told TLS. “We have worked with Mike Mcneal of S.T.E.P.S., Chief Lawson of the Lakewood Police Department, Al Burdge and Tony Arecchi of DPW and many others to get it done.”
Continues Akerman, “we have accommodated all those who were interested in obtaining housing or alternative arrangements. No other municipality in the United States has shut down a tent city in this fashion. Homeless is a Federal issue-not a local one. It is very costly for a single township to bear such a burden. Most of the people who have come to tent city were from all over the United States.”
Akerman says the Township will continue to provide homelessness prevention services in Lakewood, but cannot sustain the cost of continuously placing people in permanent housing. This past Friday, all parties have agreed that Lakewood Township would place the remaining residents that are still living there, Akerman said.
“At this point we have put everybody who was living there in either temporary or permanent housing and will continue to ensure that those in temporary housing will be placed in permanent housing,” says Akerman.
The Closure is subject to the agreement between Minister Brigham, the Camp’s founder, and the Lakewood Township, which gives the Minister one week from today to vacate the property.
“Thus, the last person will have vacated Tent City by next Thursday, July, 3, 2014, at which time I hope that everyone will join in the announcing the housing that has been achieved in cooperative fashion,” Wild wrote. [TLS]
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Great job isaac and meir.
keep up the work, we know you are always working for us. now we see some results
ty isaac and meir lichtenstein, job well done.
WOW! CONGRATS! finally cleaning up the town, a huge breakthru! May all the residents move on to better lives in normal housing. May all the neighbors feel more secure and may the neighborhood stink less!
From: A former Neighbor of tent city
Lchaim!
And what about the other tent cities in Ocean County?
Thank you to Meir & Isaac & all those who worked so hard to end this situation.
mazel tov !! Thank you to everyone who put it in a lot of hard work.
mazel tov !! Thank you to everyone who put it in a lot of hard work. much appreciated
And how much money have all these extensive efforts coupled with the several-years-long economic burden on the various Twp departments cost the local taxpayers??
If only we could have instead spent all that money to build safer infrastructure for our children..
Now, here come the developers. I really hope they arent going to build hundreds of houses there.
TG
May I direct you to one of our finest parks, where you can go fly a kite.
Prayers to all that left tent city and may they find peace with themselves.
Now that you have gotten rid of Tent City how about removing all the slumlords from Lakewood.
Thanks Mr Ackerman for your tireless effort. Let us see over the next few days there is really no traffic that my kids are scared of.
I thank all the leaders in Lakewood for doing this. Unless you lived in Tent City , you could not imagine the horrors of living there. Resident on resident violence occurred on a daily basis. It was a nightmare for the few who were truly homeless due to their income status . Drunken brawls lasted until 2 AM , especially on weekends and on Social Security check days ( third day of the month) Many residents stole to support their drug habits – some even broke into temples and schools in their attempts to get quick resalable items . A few residents died from accidents ( fires) , some over dosed , others committed suicide because they could no longer take living in the woods. Steve Brigham has not told the truth about Tent City and he never will . He had his delusions about this Utopia in the Woods , and refused to see the damage he has done to the poor people who had no place to go but Tent City ( once you went to Tent City all social service agencies refused to help you obtain affordable housing ) . Only G-d knows the truth , though the Lakewood Scoop has offered a truthful way of reporting . Maybe now the former residents and I can begin healing and find ways to NEVER find ourselves in this situation again. I apologize for all the harm the residents have caused on the very nice Jewish people, especially those on Vine , Melville and Elm Streets . We were not all violent . To those Jews who showed kindness and compassion, we will never forget your kindness .
thank you to Mayor Ackerman for really going above and beyond what most politicians would do for their citizens
great ob
keep it up
To the former tent city resident. This is Cindy and if you were a real Tent city resident you know who I am because I spent two years as a volunteer on camp. I cannot believe you’re ungratefulness for the services that Minister Steve provided to you was shelter food and clothing. Although there were a couple of deaths and one of then was missed minister states fault, there were absolutely no suicides. That isn’t on trade statement. It truly a resident, you should count your blessings that tent city was there for you and not slam Minister Steve to the ground. I know him very well and he is a Godly man and was stand up for him in a minute. Don’t even tell me that you think he has me fold because I know better.
Another clarification due to microphone the statement on the suicide is not a true statement. Don’t even tell me that you have me fooled because I know better Okay I believe I clarified all of the microphone interpretations
ITS ABOUT TIME……….. Gonna be interesting to see what happens to that property now.
TLS. Please post my comments
so it won’t be totally one-sided
This is a travesty, and disgusting. Many people were not placed in viable housing. This encampment gave people who had nothing something. The township I love and live all my life makes me ill. We should all be ashamed of how we treat our fellow man.
Why wasn’t my blog posted? Its true information people should know
Please post it THANK YOU
Tent City Village 4000 townhouses coming soon
Please submit my other clarification that stated that none of these deaths were Minister Steve’s fault. Thanking you in advance
Three points here:
1) when is brigham going to jail?
2) no townhouses coming because its all wetlands so that’s the end of that.
3) great job by politicians involved.
Goodbye. I will not miss that smell.
But what will we complain about?
Today is a proud day for Lakewood , NJ.
There is no Mitzvah to keep tent city open for the sake of keeping it open. These people have been treated with care and compassion, eventhough they outwardly broke the law. They have all been given housing , with taxpayer dollars for free.
Let the rest of the USA use Lakewood as an example.
Now let’s fence the area and clean-up, it really smells near there.
How long before it’s developed?
Any takers on the bet?
I feel that Homelessness is not just a federal issue or state or municipal issue. Homelessness is an Issue for our society on all fronts America was built by homeless men with sweatr blood and honor.
So what will happen to people who become homeless tomorrow or the next day? How does this solve homelessness? Lakewood gave Tent City that land, but then soon later took it back claiming that Tent City was not safe. How can we give someone something, then just take it back? There are ZERO SHELTERS IN OCEAN COUNTY! If people were so concerned about how ‘safe’ Tent City was, they would have built them a shelter. But just wait a couple months to a year, there will be synagogues, schools, or houses built on that seem piece of land. We need to put an end to homelessness. Closing down tent city and giving a couple of people free housing for only a year is not curing anything!
Cindy – you believe what Steve tells you, but the facts are that “Minister ” Steve refused housing for the residents of Tent City in 2012, despite Judge Foster’s offer of housing during the trial. Maybe the LS can get an accurate account of all the crime that occured in Tent City . “Minister Steve ” knew what was going on, but he chose to look the other way , since he did not spend most of his time there anyway . All Tent City residents accepted the year of free housing , except for Alex and maybe one or two others . Tent City provided a place where people could do what they wanted – and most did illegal things. I am taking my year and getting an education that will help me to afford housing. One day you will find out what the minister is really about .
Most of the people demonstrating to keep Tent City open don’t live there , nor are they homeless. The real homeless of Tent City are in their housing and are very happy with the free year of housing -like I am . The other media choose to only give Brigham’s side – not the real residenst who lived in Tent City . They never want to come back- and neither do I. Lakewood Scoop why don’t you do a few stories about the survivors of Tent City – most are VERY happy like I am .