News & Events
N.J. town catching heat for plan to ban abortion clinics, tattoo parlors
A municipality in Union County has attracted some controversy on social media for a proposed ordinance prohibiting abortion clinics, tattoo shops, massage parlors and animal hospitals, among other businesses.
Marc Pfeiffer Uses Claude AI to Help Write Article: AI in Local Government, Helpful or Harmful?
For local governments, chatbots create exciting opportunities to improve customer service, automate tasks and cut costs. Marc Pfeiffer, Assistant Director of Bloustein Local, Center for Urban Policy Research, uses Claude AI to help write two articles on how to best incorporate this new technology.
Pfeiffer – TECH UPDATES: What Municipal CAOs Need to Know, Part 1: Tech Fitness and Cyber Hygiene
There are two basic elements of technology that every municipality must have. Most places already do this, but it doesn’t hurt to highlight them. The first is an expert to advise you and your governing body on technology issues. As with other experts you hire—a police chief to advise you on law enforcement concerns or an engineer to advise you on...
Lakewood schools borrowed millions from New Jersey and still can’t pay its bills
The Lakewood School District in New Jersey is facing severe financial distress, having borrowed $165 million since 2014 and now seeking an additional $93 million loan from the state to stay afloat. This mounting debt has been primarily attributed to the district's unique circumstances, including a vast private school student population, high transportation...
American Dream lawsuits are stacking up. Here’s why — and how they compare to other malls
The American Dream entertainment complex has faced an onslaught of 82 lawsuits since 2018, encompassing issues such as unpaid construction bills, injuries at its attractions, and defaults on loans, significantly surpassing neighboring malls in legal troubles. The legal battles involve different parties, including the mall itself, developer Ameream, and...
Rutgers Team to Receive $1 Million in Federal Funding for Smart Kids and Cool Seniors Project
A team of researchers at Rutgers University–New Brunswick has been selected to receive a $1 million Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) award for a community-university partnership that combats climate change and improves access to essential resources and services. CIVIC is organized by the National Science Foundation in two stages. First, teams utilized...
Big retirement payouts for top cops, fire chiefs and school brass cost $76M. Why can’t N.J. stop them?
Despite attempts to cap significant retirement payouts to high-ranking officials in New Jersey, such as police chiefs, fire chiefs, and school administrators since 2010, generous payouts continue, impacting the state’s highest property taxes and diverting funds from other essential services. Since 2020, 780 of the highest-paid government employees in New...
New Report from Marc Pfeiffer – First, Do No Harm: Algorithms, AI, and Digital Product Liability
The relatively recent introduction of publicly accessible artificial intelligence-driven chatbots (e.g., Bard, Bing, ChatGPT, Claude) have focused public attention on the broader individual and societal harms that can result from algorithms that are embedded in digital technology goods and services. The potential for algorithmic harm(s) are commonly...
Atlantic City Housing Authority spent nearly $500K on leadership consultants
ATLANTIC CITY — The Atlantic City Housing Authority spent nearly a half-million dollars on two administrative consultants over the past year and continued to keep them on the payroll through the summer despite the addition of new permanent staff in the same roles... Marc Pfeiffer, a procurement expert and senior policy fellow with Rutgers University’s...
CUPR staff and students meet with Senator Booker to discuss new EPA-funded air quality initiative
CUPR green building colleagues Jen Senick, Clint Andrews, and Gedi Mainelis are part of a new EPA-funded project in Elizabeth, NJ, to install air quality sensors near public housing. US Senator Cory Booker, US Representative Robert Menendez , Union County Commissioner Bette Jane Kowalski, Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bolwage, EPA Region 2 Director Lisa...
Recent Products
Route 66, Revisited
In 2011, after many years of study, Rutgers University finished a landmark economic impact analysis of Route 66. Conducted in collaboration with the National Park Service (NPS) and the World Monuments Fund (WMF), The Route 66 Economic Impact Report* worked to capture...
New Jersey Energy Code Compliance Study
DNV and its study partner NMR completed the New Jersey Energy Code Compliance study for Rutgers, The State University and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). The ECC study was completed between February 2021 and June 2022 to assess energy code...
Draft Report: New Jersey Non-Residential Lighting Market Characterization
Abstract DNV completed the New Jersey Non-Residential Lighting Market Characterization on behalf of the Rutgers Center for Green Building (Rutgers), and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). The primary objective of this study was to assess the status of...
State of the Climate: New Jersey 2021
Global climate change will present unique challenges to the state of New Jersey. This report by researchers from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist, and the University of Delaware summarizes the current scientific...